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AFP Boosts Fact-Checking for 2027 French Election
Confirmed
In Short: AFP announced plans to bolster its fact-checking efforts with a dedicated team to combat disinformation during the 2027 French presidential election campaign.
The organization's extensive network spans the whole of France, with 22 bureaux across mainland France and the French overseas territories.
Florian Philippot, leader of the French Patriots party and a candidate in the election, has called on President Emmanuel Macron to resign amid protests, clashes with police, and unrest across the country.
The protests, which have seen large-scale demonstrations and violent clashes, are part of a long-standing tradition of social unrest in France.
The gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement, which demonstrated against cost-of-living hikes for over a year from 2018, has become one of the longest-lived protest movements in French history.
Social unrest, government borrowing costs at eye-watering highs, a deeply divided French parliament, and a revolving door of prime ministers over the last five years have all contributed to the current economic and political climate.
Public debt in France has climbed from around 60 percent of GDP at the birth of the euro to 120 percent today, without governments being forced to confront the sustainability of public debt and the French social model.
French Socialist candidate Raphaël Glucksmann called President Trump a 'useful idiot' for easing restrictions on Russian diesel exports, aligning with his broader political platform.
Jordan Bardella, a key ally of French far-right presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, said allegations that he made antisemitic comments in 2013 marked part of a 'total war' against their party ahead of the 2027 polls.
Macron said the Russian hybrid threat against Europeans and against France has intensified, and he announced that Paris will convene a G7 meeting focused on 'energy issues' to be held within the coming weeks.
A new poll suggests that one in five French people would consider leaving the country if the far-right leader Marine Le Pen wins next year's presidential election.
The yield gap between French bonds and safe-haven Bunds widened to about 150 basis points on Friday, the highest since the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis in 2011, before pulling back to 140 basis points.
What this adds
The protests have highlighted deep divisions within French society and the government's struggle to address the concerns of young people and teachers.
Background
AFP announced plans to bolster its fact-checking efforts with a dedicated team to combat disinformation during the 2027 French presidential election.
What's confirmed
- Police and protesters clashed violently in Paris and other French cities Saturday on the sidelines of nationwide marches against soaring inflation, with one demonstrator's hand blown off, multiple blazes set and looters breaking into dozens of stores to strip them bare.
What's still developing
- As disinformation continues to grow, AFP will dedicate a team of fact-checkers throughout the election campaign, in additional to our international network which can be called upon to verify any information originating from abroad.
- The three young women told me large-scale protests seemed the only way to get heard by French authorities. 'Everyone hates the police' – what France's school protests reveal about a divided nation France's school protests: What lies behind the anger France halts use of stun grenades after boy's hand blown off in student protests They are part of a defiant French tradition.
- Today’s bond market is exposing a French economic problem that has been building for years.
- Yann Wernert Senior Policy Fellow, Jacques Delors Centre France is heading into a pivotal election year.
- The legislative elections that will most probably follow will be just as decisive.
- He called for a 'break with Macronism' and an end to 'Jean-Luc Mélenchon's dominance over the left,' while insisting the main opponent remained 'the far right.' Published on October 12, 2026, at 11:09 am (Paris), updated on October 14, 2026, at 11:51 am Sandrine Cassini Robin Richardot Although the concept of the nation was born during the French Revolution, the far right has claimed it since the end of the 20th century.
- Published on October 11, 2026, at 6:26 pm (Paris), updated on October 14, 2026, at 11:51 am Le Monde Gabriel Attal, presidential candidate for the centrist Renaissance party, sought to regain momentum by highlighting his proposals on education.
- Glucksmann's comments align with his broader political platform, which includes supporting the EU's goal of phasing out combustion engine vehicles by 2035 and addressing issues such as the lack of substitute teachers and overcrowded classrooms in French schools.
- Le Pen said she had “total confidence” in Bardella, 31, who has risen rapidly through the party ranks over the past decade and is tipped to become prime minister if she wins the presidency, and vowed the RN would “counterattack” over the allegations.
- "The government is trembling and it's right to tremble because when the French people are angry, they never let up," Ryad Rani, the head of the LSU high school student representative body, told journalists in Paris.
- With just months to go before elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron, French authorities had been hoping that the protests would start to ease ahead of half-term holidays to start at the end of the week.
- “Young people are not being included in the conversation. Our future is being robbed away from us,” the 23-year-old told reporters at the Paul Eluard high school.