France Coup: AI Deception 🇫🇷🤯 Truth Lost?

World News

Sometime in the second week of December, an improbable video rapidly spread across French-language social media, fueling claims of a coup d’état in France and suggesting that President Emmanuel Macron had been deposed. The AI-generated fake video garnered millions of views and triggered alarm, particularly with at least one African leader. Initially, even the French president was unable to persuade Meta to remove the content. The video’s claims – that France had been subject to a coup and that President Macron might have been deposed – circulated widely. It amassed millions of views and caused concern with at least one African leader. At first, neither the French president nor Meta were able to take the video down.

On December 17, 2025, at 3:59 PM, a fabricated video depicting a coup in France, with French President Emmanuel Macron potentially deposed, rapidly spread online. Initially, even the French president was unable to compel Meta to remove the content. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder and CEO, announced in January of that year that the company’s platforms, including Instagram, would eliminate most of their fact-checking policies. He stated that these policies had become “too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the US.” Zuckerberg’s decision was widely interpreted as a response to pressure from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. The move followed a viral video alleging a coup in France, a situation that initially stumped French authorities, including President Macron, regarding Meta’s response.

In January, Meta’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a significant shift in his company’s approach to fact-checking, declaring an end to most of the platform’s existing policies. This move, which included his flagship platforms Facebook and Instagram, was widely interpreted as a response to mounting pressure from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. As Zuckerberg stated in a post, the decision stemmed from concerns that existing fact-checking efforts had become “too politically biased” and “destroyed more trust than they’ve created,” particularly within the United States.

In January, Meta’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a significant shift in the company’s approach to fact-checking policies, a move widely interpreted as a response to pressure from incoming US President Donald Trump. As Zuckerberg stated in a post, the company intended to eliminate fact-checkers, arguing they had become “too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the US.” This decision followed a notable incident: an AI-generated video, circulating widely on French-language social media, falsely claimed that France was subject to a coup d’état and that President Emmanuel Macron had been deposed. The video garnered millions of views and raised alarm, prompting concern from at least one African leader.

A fabricated video depicting a “coup in France” rapidly spread across French-language social media during the second week of December 2025, claiming President Emmanuel Macron had been deposed. The AI-generated fake quickly garnered millions of views and raised alarm, including concerns from at least one African leader. Initially, even French President Macron was unable to persuade Meta to remove the video from the platform. Speaking in Marseille, Macron stated, “These people are mocking us. They don’t care about keeping public debates healthy, they mock the sovereignty of democracies and are putting us in danger.” Despite this, efforts to compel Meta’s intervention proved unsuccessful.

“We’re not well-equipped,” he said in an apparent reference to US tech giants. In January of this year, Meta’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced that his platforms – including Instagram – were eliminating most of their fact-checking policies. This move was widely perceived as a response to pressure from incoming US President Donald Trump. Zuckerberg stated that the company would remove fact-checkers he believed had been “too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the US.”

Browser extensions appear to be blocking the video player from loading. To access this content, users may need to disable them on this site. The fabricated video falsely claimed that France had experienced a coup, alleging that President Emmanuel Macron had been deposed. Presented as a breaking news story within a Facebook reel, a “reporter” from the non-existent French news channel “Live 24” stated, “At present moment, unofficial information indeed suggests that a coup is under way in France – led by a colonel whose identity has not been revealed – and French President Emmanuel Macron may have been deposed.” The alleged journalist reported her story with a lit-up Eiffel Tower and flashing police lights in the background, while a helicopter flew overhead and an armed soldier maintained a watchful presence nearby. A crowd of stunned citizens appeared to attempt to get a glimpse of the unfolding situation behind police cordons. French President Emmanuel Macron became aware of the fake video on December 14th, but despite his requests to remove it, Meta left it online for several days, citing that it did not violate the platform's rules. Ultimately, the chaotic – though entirely fabricated and AI-generated – scenes from France garnered the attention of an unnamed African head of state, who subsequently contacted the French leader directly, inquiring, “Dear president, what is happening in your country?”

During a visit to the southern city of Marseille on Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron addressed the proliferation of a digitally-altered coup video. By that point, the video, uploaded by a user under the alias “ISLAM,” had already accumulated 13 million views. Initially amused, Macron swiftly mobilized his team to report the video to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, requesting its removal. “These people are mocking us,” he stated in Marseille. “They don’t care about keeping public debates healthy, they mock the sovereignty of democracies and are putting us in danger.” Meta initially resisted, asserting the video did not violate its platform’s “rules of use.” On Wednesday morning, three days after Macron first became aware of the video, it remained accessible online, marked only with a minor warning indicating “this content may have been digitally created or altered to seem real.” Shortly thereafter, around six hours later, the clip was removed.

Under the guise of a news report, a fabricated video alleging a coup in France and the potential deposition of President Emmanuel Macron emerged online earlier this month. The video, uploaded by a user named “ISLAM,” garnered over 3 million views before being removed. This incident is not the first time France – or President Macron – has been targeted by misleading fake news stories. In December, another AI-generated video falsely claiming to be relayed by RFI, FRANCE 24’s sister station, also appeared online. The current video purported to show a coup in France, further fueling concerns about the spread of disinformation.

Breaking news emerged when a “reporter” from the non-existent French news channel “Live 24” presented a fabricated story on a Facebook reel, declaring that President Macron and his government had been overthrown. “At the present moment, unofficial information suggests that a coup is underway in France—led by a colonel whose identity remains undisclosed—and that President Emmanuel Macron may have been deposed.” The video, filmed with a lit-up Eiffel Tower and flashing police lights in the background, featured a helicopter overhead and an armed soldier maintaining a watch, while a crowd of stunned citizens attempted to view the unfolding situation beyond police cordons. French President Emmanuel Macron became aware of the false video on December 14th. Subsequently, on Sunday, the chaotic – though entirely fake and AI-generated – scenes from France captured the attention of an unnamed African head of state, who contacted the French leader directly. “One of my African counterparts sent me a message: ‘Dear president, what is happening in your country?’,” Macron told French regional newspaper “La Provence” during a visit to the southern city of Marseille on Tuesday. By that time, the video, uploaded by a user under the alias “ISLAM,” had already accumulated 13 million views. Macron stated that while the fake news initially amused him, he immediately mobilized his team, reporting the video to Facebook’s parent group, Meta.

Three days after President Macron first became aware of it, the AI-generated fake coup video – depicting a staged insurrection – remained accessible online, displaying only a minor warning label stating “this content may have been digitally created or altered to seem real.” The clip, which had sparked concern about the potential for disinformation, was ultimately taken down later that Wednesday morning. President Macron had expressed frustration with Meta’s initial refusal to remove the content, arguing, “These people are mocking us. They don’t care about keeping public debates healthy, they mock the sovereignty of democracies and are putting us in danger.” He added that he “tends to think that I have more leverage than most […] Well, it doesn’t work.” This sentiment followed Meta’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg’s, January announcement that the company was dismantling its fact-checking policies, citing concerns about political bias and a lack of trust, particularly in the United States – a move widely interpreted as a response to pressure from then-President Donald Trump. Zuckerberg had stated, “We’re going to get rid of fact-checkers (that) have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created.” This incident is not the first time that France, or President Macron, has been targeted by false news stories.

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