CYBERNIGHT 2025 JURY FAVORITE
During the upcoming European elections in June 2024, the European Parliament fears it may be targeted by disinformation operations and cyberattacks.
For Members of the European Parliament, the European Commission, and cybersecurity experts, there is little doubt: the campaigns and the European elections, to be held from Thursday, June 6 to Sunday, June 9 across the 27 Member States, will be targeted by attempts at foreign interference, destabilization, and disinformation—particularly amid the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that has been ongoing for two years.
The risks facing elections can take many forms and spare no country. They range from information manipulation and disinformation to cyberattacks that compromise infrastructure.
A Few Examples of Attacks
CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA
THE CONTEXT
In 2014, a Cambridge Analytica subcontractor created a quiz that collected information from the people who took it, as well as from all of their Facebook friends, which explains the large volume of data obtained.
This triggered a scandal involving Facebook, as the platform allowed this collection of personal data without restrictions. Facebook was accused of failing to take action to prevent this practice and of not adequately securing its users’ data.
This was all the more serious for Facebook because, at the time, the platform was already being criticized by the European Union and the United States for allowing Russian propaganda to spread and not doing enough to combat circulating disinformation.
This data collection was used to run targeted advertising campaigns aimed at influencing the political choices of undecided voters.
THE CONSEQUENCES
Since this scandal, protecting citizens’ personal data has become a real priority and a major political issue. In several countries, politicians have called on social media platforms to ensure data protection and fight data leaks.
It has also become a concern for democracy. Mass data collection is dangerous because this data can be diverted from its original purpose. In the context of elections, it can be used to conduct targeted influence campaigns, which can completely change the outcome of a vote.
MACRON LEAKS
One of cybercriminals’ major objectives during election periods is also to infiltrate campaign organizations. The goal is to gain access to “compromising” documents and make them public, always with the aim of discrediting a candidate and their team.
THE CONTEXT
In May 2017, a data leak from Emmanuel Macron’s campaign team occurred while he was a candidate in the 2017 presidential election. Two days before the second-round vote, unknown hackers made public more than 20,000 emails belonging to members of the campaign team.
Mounir Mahjoubi, former president of France’s National Digital Council, stated that team members had received several cyberattack attempts for months before the election. These notably took the form of repeated phishing emails.
This leak of emails and personal information caused a large number of problems within the campaign. First, people altered—or even fabricated—and then shared documents on social media in order to add drama to the scandal or discredit Emmanuel Macron and his campaign team. Unknown hackers even added documents to the original files in order to make them appear genuine.
In March 2016, Hillary Clinton’s campaign team experienced the same misfortune. Thirty thousand emails from her personal email account were published. As Secretary of State, she was criticized for using a private server to send professional emails.
THE CONSEQUENCES
Whether we like it or not, and despite efforts to debunk false information, social media platforms spread rumors. Even when this type of information is denied and officially proven false, it is difficult to stop on networks such as Twitter or Instagram, where fake news spreads much faster than factual information. The aim is to discredit the candidate’s image, whether through ridicule, shame, or attempts to place them in turmoil.
If you would like to learn more about Mounir Mahjoubi’s statements to FranceInfo in May 2017:
EMMANUEL MACRON DEEPFAKE – FRANCE 24
Today, AI is a major tool for anyone with malicious intent who wants to create fake news. It is now possible to replicate anyone’s voice in order to distort their statements. Political figures and the most well-known media outlets are the main targets of deepfakes, especially during election periods.
THE CONTEXT
Footage from the France 24 news broadcast of February 12, 2024 was reused and altered. In it, the presenter appears to announce that Emmanuel Macron had cancelled his visit to Ukraine following “a deadly provocation against him”—namely, an assassination attempt. The footage itself was genuine, but the presenter’s voice was altered using artificial intelligence to distort the information. France 24 was quick to deny the claim, explaining that it was a deepfake.
THE CONSEQUENCES
Despite France 24’s intervention to warn about the deepfake, the video was shared for several days across all social media platforms. Citizens felt at risk, as their own President of the Republic was allegedly targeted in an assassination attempt. Like leaks, deepfakes aim to distort a person’s image, which can be very dangerous during elections.
During this election period, controversial false information will be highly prevalent on social media. It is therefore essential that you verify information using multiple sources whose reliability should also be checked.
