In the fall, panic was caused in France by an allegation of the uncontrolled spread of bed bugs. According to the government, the rumor was fueled by social media linked to the Russian government.
Last fall, schools were closed in France and the government organized emergency meetingswhen bedbugs allegedly spread uncontrollably.
Bed bugs were the talk of the autumn. Observations were allegedly made in addition to homes and schools, e.g. in cinemas, subways and trains and at Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Among other things In Britain, they began to think, how to prevent the spread of bed bugs with people coming from France.
Government and tourist industry worried about France’s reputation, especially since next summer’s Olympics will be held in Paris.
Already at that time, it became apparent that not all of the numerous bedbug sightings were true or could not be confirmed. In March, the French Minister for Europe Jean-Noël Barrot finally announced that the panic about the spread of bed bugs was incited by Russia, says, among others, the TV channel TF1.
Some incited panic over the news
The start of the louse panic is considered to be when the French Food, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety Agency Anses told in June 2023 that 11 percent of French homes had had bed bugs between 2017 and 2022.
However, the actual panic only broke out in the fall, when more and more claims about lude sightings in public places began to spread on social media.
– This is where the Russian machine started, writes TF1.
Russia started spreading fake news online on sites that were plagiarized to look like real French news sites. The fake news published in the name of La Montagne claimed that the spread of the bed bug was related to sanctions against Russia, as certain insecticide products could no longer be exported to France. A fake news site imitating Libération accused Ukrainian refugees of spreading bedbugs.
After that, panic was continued on social media by accounts that, according to France, are linked to the Kremlin.
Bed bugs have increased in France as well as elsewhere, but Russia made the problem look worse than it is with its disinformation and falsely pointed an accusing finger at Ukraine.
The reasons for the increase in bed bugs can be the increase in travel after the end of the corona pandemic, bed bugs becoming more resistant to pesticides and an even warmer climate, lists the British newspaper The Guardian. Bed bugs have also become more common in Finland in recent years.
Olympics, Ukraine, European elections
Russia has ramped up its cyber attacks and disinformation campaign since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Barrot tells the news agency Reuters that the matter has been discovered by Viginum, a service founded by France in 2021, whose mission is to track such campaigns, which aim to increase instability and undermine public support for Ukraine.
France has found at least 193 websites that was founded For spreading Russian disinformation.
France suspects Russia also from last autumn’s campaign, where 250 stars of David were painted on Parisian buildings. This initially caused an uproar of anti-Semitism, but it was eventually determined that the stars and their location did not appear to be genuine expressions of anti-Semitism.
President of France Emmanuel Macron recently said that he has no doubt that Russia will also target the Paris Olympics.
Russia is also trying to influence the EU elections in June by spreading false information. in the EU Parliament has also been revealedthat Russia has paid some EU parliamentarians to gain influence.