YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
YELLOW VESTS FLOODED
BY FAKE NEWS
OVER 100M VIEWS OF
DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK

Avaaz calls on Facebook to Correct the Record
ahead of EU Elections -- with an in-depth
study showing how fake news surrounding the
Yellow Vests reached over 100 million views,
and how Russia fueled the divide.

 12/03/2019 - Avaaz Report
YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS
    OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK

 Avaaz calls on Facebook to Correct the Record ahead of EU Elections --
with an in-depth study showing how fake news surrounding the Yellow
Vests reached over 100 million views, and how Russia fueled the divide.

                             12/03/2019
YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
CONTENTS
1) The Summary - What the study shows                            6

2) The Data - 105M views of fake news                            8

3) The Stories - 6 case studies                                 10

4) The Methodology - How the study was done                     18

5) The Russia Effect - RT France dominates the YouTube debate   20

6) The Solution - Correct The Record                            26

Annex - 100 Fake News Table                                     32

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
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               THE SUMMARY -
               WHAT THE STUDY SHOWS
    This new in-depth study by the global citizens’                 or factually incorrect posts. Furthermore, the
    movement Avaaz shows for the first time the                     findings shine a light on the increased efforts from
    unprecedented scale at which the Yellow Vest                    Russian state media, RT France, to fuel the protests.
    movement has been impacted by disinformation.
                                                                    The research was carried out by a team of
    According to its findings, fake news surrounding
                                                                    investigative reporters, researchers and data
    the French Yellow Vest movement has reached an
                                                                    analysts set up by the global citizens movement
    estimated 105 million views on Facebook alone, in a
                                                                    Avaaz to detect and deter disinformation ahead
    country with just over 35 million Facebook monthly
                                                                    of the European elections. It shows clearly that
    active users1.
                                                                    Facebook and other platforms’ responses to
    The research analyzed social media posts over a five            disinformation in Europe are ineffective and pose
    month period - between November 2018 and March                  a serious threat to healthy public discourse and
    2019 - and focused mainly on Facebook, where most               democratic stability, especially in light of upcoming
    of the Yellow Vest social media interaction took                EU elections in May. The report concludes by
    place. It took into account the top known 100 fake              calling on platforms to work with fact-checkers to
    news stories circulating in the French Yellow Vest              Correct The Record for everyone exposed to false
    movement, all of which were fact-checked by French              or misleading content, as an emergency measure
    or international media. The selected stories are                ahead of the elections.
    mostly malicious, made-up, purposefully misleading

        The study shows:

         JJ Disinformation in Yellow Vest Facebook                         • an image of a Yellow Vest protest in Paris,
            groups and pages reached over 105 million                        with a caption alleging that the image had
            views and over 4 million shares in the time                      been censored on Facebook or elsewhere;
            between November 1, 2018 and March 6, 2019.                      Le Monde fact-checkers debunked the claim
                                                                             that the photo or the caption were deleted
         JJ The 100 most viewed fake news stories
                                                                             (349,403 shares, 8,967,432 est. views)
            analyzed in this report include:
                                                                       JJ RT France’s overwhelming dominance of
             • a post with images including bleeding
                                                                          the French debate about the Yellow Vests
               ‘Yellow Vest protesters,’ which media and
                                                                          on YouTube: Research focusing on the 500
               government allegedly hid from the public
                                                                          top YouTube results shows that Russia’s state
               - when some of the photos were actually
                                                                          media was the most viewed channel for videos
               taken at different protests near Madrid or
                                                                          related to the Yellow Vest movement in France
               in Catalonia (136,818 shares, 3,511,456 est.
                                                                          and accumulated over 2 times as many views
               views)
                                                                          as Le Monde, L’Obs, Le Huffington Post, Le
             • a video of French President Macron                         Figaro and FRANCE 24 combined.
               dancing in the Middle East “while France
                                                                       JJ How Avaaz’s policy proposal “Correct the
               suffers,” when the video was actually taken
                                                                          Record” could function as a deterrence for
               over a month before, during the Summit
                                                                          far-spreading fake news, by requiring that
               for the Francophonie in Armenia (183,390
                                                                          Facebook and other platforms work with fact-
               shares, 5,700,000 views)
                                                                          checkers to issue corrections to all users who
                                                                          have been exposed to disinformation.

    1
        https://www.lejdd.fr/Medias/Internet/il-y-a-plus-de-35-millions-dutilisateurs-de-facebook-en-france-3850928

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
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                THE DATA - 105M VIEWS OF FAKE NEWS
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Figure 2.2 -- Top 100 most viewed fake news by topic, Nov. 1, 2018 - Mar. 6, 2019

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    FAKE NEWS AND THE                                                             Fake Gerard Lanvin letter
    The key focus of the study is the world’s biggest                               Table 2.1 below shows the 20 most viewed fake
    social media platform Facebook, by far the most                                 news stories for the period between November                                                                                                                    FRENCH YELLOW VESTS
    popular online network used by the Yellow Vest                                  1, 2018 and March 6, 2019. Figure 2.2 shows all
    movement2. We examined posts shared by pages,                                   100 most viewed fake news as an infographic,                                                                                                                    Each circle is one piece of “fake news” -
    groups and profiles associated with the movement                                segmented by topic. The entire list of the 100 most                                                                                                             size is equal to the total number of            Facebook “censors”
    and limited our analysis to posts containing text,                              viewed fake news can be found in the Annex. As                                                                                                                  estimated views                               a Yellow Vests picture
    images, and videos.                                                             stated above, all of the analyzed fake news have
                                                                                    been fact-checked by French or international media.

    Table 2.1 -- 20 Most Viewed Fake News Content, Nov. 1, 2018 - Mar. 6, 2019

        NAME OF VIDEO                                                        VIEWS SHARES                       FAKE NEWS                                                              FACT-CHECK

    Yellow Vests protest picture being deliberately deleted by Facebook      8,967,432    349,401   https://www.facebook.com/groups/1136704289828258/
                                                                                                    permalink/1144241582407862
                                                                                                                                                                          https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A66kHxLLAA5l1J0-d_ybp-
                                                                                                                                                                          r074KJWU8o/view?usp=sharing

    Fake Gerard Lanvin letter                                                6,467,620    252,000
                                                                                                    https://web.archive.org/web/20181210110228/facebook.com/
                                                                                                                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-gerard-lanvin-nest-pas-lauteur-dune-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Fake pictures of
                                                                                                    photo.php?fbid=10217401146005830&set=a.10201689078253956&-
                                                                                                                                                                          lettre-ouverte-anti-macron-tres-virale-sur-facebook
                                                                                                    type=3&theater

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             police violence
    Macron dances while France is protesting                                 5,700,000    183,392
                                                                                                    https://www.facebook.com/pat51343/videos/
                                                                                                                                                                          https://observers.france24.com/fr/20181203-emmanuel-macron-
                                                                                                    vb.100007099055800/2072455656334383/?type=2&video_
                                                                                                                                                                          danse-il-alors-mouvement-gilets-jaunes-debute
                                                                                                    source=user_video_tab

    Macron dances while France is protesting (2nd post)                      4,944,624    192,659   https://www.facebook.com/yann.juarez/posts/2850952611587557           https://twitter.com/AfpFactuel/status/1066992424361312256

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Fake photo of police support
    Police allegedly supporting Yellow Vest protesters                       4,619,857    180,005   https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1969051696548925&set=
                                                                                                    pb.100003323406258.-2207520000.1544447688.&type=3&theater
                                                                                                                                                                          https://twitter.com/AfpFactuel/status/1066818934664511489                                                                        for the Yellow Vests

    Fake police violence pictures                                            3,511,456    136,818   https://www.facebook.com/snoirotetthielen/posts/1971636099572802
                                                                                                                                                                          https://observers.france24.com/en/20181129-debunked-videos-
                                                                                                                                                                          yellow-vests-france-protests

    Video of police officers taking off their helmets - Montpellier          4,468,048    174,090
                                                                                                                                                                          https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/occitanie/herault/montpellier/
                                                                                                    https://www.facebook.com/groups/283520695621830/

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Figure 2.3 -- Views of the top 100 fake news by topic, Nov. 1, 2018 - Mar. 6, 2019
                                                                                                                                                                          herault-melenchon-victime-infox-confond-frontignan-bordeaux-chal-
                                                                                                    permalink/293590931281473
                                                                                                                                                                          eur-soutien-1579669.html

    Disobedience call from an alleged policeman                              3,900,000    248,867   https://www.facebook.com/djohn.attend.5/
                                                                                                    videos/2139730536342642/
                                                                                                                                                                          https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/2382079-20181128-video-gilets-
                                                                                                                                                                          jaunes-policier-vraiment-publie-videos-soutien-mouvement

    Outdated police violences and allegedly being erased                     3,516,127    137,000
                                                                                                    (need to be a member of the group to see the post)
                                                                                                    https://www.facebook.com/groups/298362254331895/
                                                                                                    permalink/317972172370903
                                                                                                                                                                          from an old 2016 video: https://www.youtube.com/
                                                                                                                                                                          watch?v=qNvdpPHzniY                                                                                                                                   FRENCH YELLOW VEST
    France 3 TV intentionally censoring journalist                           3,700,000    119,059   https://www.facebook.com/Bassiste.de.Fanatic.Control/videos/
                                                                                                    vb.1234098273/10217681408767031/?type=2&theater
                                                                                                                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/gilets-jaunes-demeler-le-vrai-du-faux-de-trois-
                                                                                                                                                                          jours-de-mobilisation-0                                                                                                                             FAKE NEWS DATABASE BY
    Police beating students (outdated)                                       3,600,000    161,862   https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=348619922581785
                                                                                                                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/hors-contexte-anciennes-ou-faussement-
                                                                                                                                                                          legendeestoutes-les-images-de-violences-en-marge-du-mouvement
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ESTIMATED VIEWS AND TYPE
                                                                             3,500,000    135,169
                                                                                                                                                                          http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/gilets-jaunes-les-
    Macron hired mercenaries; secret services support Yellow Vest protests                          https://www.facebook.com/nicole.guegan.735/
                                                                                                                                                                          mercenaires-de-macron-et-autres-intox-qui-pullulent-sur-

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Each circle represents one piece of fake news labeled by
                                                                                                    videos/2709389059285694/
                                                                                                                                                                          facebook-05-12-2018-7961382.php

    Police officers taking off their helmets - Bordeaux                      3,300,000    121,983   https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.e.dupouy/
                                                                                                    videos/10218125252782142/
                                                                                                                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/la-police-bordeaux-retire-son-casque-en-
                                                                                                                                                                          soutien-aux-gilets-jaunes-une-interpretation-douteuse
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 keywords; filtered to show content with >2,500,000 views

                                                                             2,000,000     72,457
                                                                                                                                                                          https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2018/12/06/vendre-la-
    UN is planning the replacement of European population by migrants                               https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=361553517934236                     france-a-l-onu-de-donald-trump-aux-gilets-jaunes-l-itineraire-mondial-
                                                                                                                                                                          d-une-intox_5393268_4355770.html

    Marrakech Pact conspiracy                                                3,100,000    108,617
                                                                                                                                                                          https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2018/12/06/vendre-la-
                                                                                                    https://www.facebook.com/romeo.piacquaddio/
                                                                                                                                                                          france-a-l-onu-de-donald-trump-aux-gilets-jaunes-l-itineraire-mondial-
                                                                                                    videos/1430180387116830/
                                                                                                                                                                          d-une-intox_5393268_4355770.html

    Untrue claim that French MPs salary higher than in Germany               2,406,288     93,757
                                                                                                                                                                          https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2016/12/30/quels-
                                                                                                    https://www.facebook.com/groups/310403819778193/
                                                                                                                                                                          pays-europeens-remunerent-le-mieux-leurs-elus_5055895_4355770.
                                                                                                    permalink/342917016526873
                                                                                                                                                                          html

    Picture of rugby supporters used for illustrating YV protest             2,277,655     88,745
                                                                                                                                                                          https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/fausse-video-de-
                                                                                                    post has been deleted but screenshot shared here by AFP on twitter:
                                                                                                                                                                          l-agression-d-un-handicape-a-quimper-le-prefet-du-finistere-porte-
                                                                                                    https://twitter.com/AfpFactuel/status/1064287475886112768/photo/1
                                                                                                                                                                          plainte-1542826305

    Croatia president giving up her presidential plane                       1,918,240     74,741   https://www.facebook.com/groups/310403819778193/
                                                                                                    permalink/332905080861400
                                                                                                                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-presidente-croate-na-pas-vendu-lavion-
                                                                                                                                                                          presidentiel-et-baisse-son-salaire-de-30

    Police intentionally throwing a grenade at a protester                   1,600,000     57,807   https://www.facebook.com/gjpourlepeuple/
                                                                                                    videos/290734811786372/
                                                                                                                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/des-policiers-visent-deliberement-ce-gilet-
                                                                                                                                                                          jaune-avec-une-grenade-la-police-et-le-manifestant-ne

    1
        https://jean-jaures.org/nos-productions/en-immersion-numerique-avec-les-gilets-jaunes

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
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               THE STORIES -                                This chapter presents brief case studies of some
                                                            of the most shared and viewed fake news from
                                                            our research3. Every item has a summary of the
               6 CASE STUDIES                               fake news, its reach and verification of the events
                                                            depicted by the posts.

     1       POLICE BRUTALITY, CONTEXT MANIPULATION
                                                                                                                    Below are two examples of where some of the images originally came from:
     POLICE BRUTALITY AT YELLOW VEST PROTEST LEAVES PEOPLE BLEEDING

                                                            FAKE NEWS: A Yellow Vest supporter shared
                                                            a collection of images of people, supposedly
                                                            showing them as Yellow Vest protesters who are
                                                            victims of French police brutality, with a caption
                                                            that reads “the media and the government of
                                                            Macron have hidden the images of peaceful
                                                            protesters beaten by the CRS” (the general reserve
                                                            of the French National Police).

                                                            REACH: The post quickly went viral on Facebook
                                                            and reached 136K shares and over 3.5M
                                                            estimated views by March 6, 2019.

                                                            VERIFICATION: The post was made up of several
                                                            photos taken at different protests, cities, countries
                                                            and events around the world, yet suggested
                                                            they were all the result of French police brutality
                                                            toward the Yellow Vest movement. For instance,
                                                            the image of the young woman bleeding was from
                                                            a Coal Mining protest in Spain back in July 11,
                                                            2012. The one from the older woman bleeding was
                                                            taken at a Catalonian protest on September 11,
                                                            2017.
                                                                                                                    “Miners clash with police while demonstrating in Madrid.”
                                                            Facebook has recently added below the post              This Getty Images caption shows that the photo was
                                                            related content articles from Observers France 24       actually taken near Madrid, Spain on July 11, 2012.
                                                            and AFP that explain the misuse of such images.

                                                                                                                                                                                This AFP Factuel post reads, “The third image of an
                                                                                                                                                                                older lady with a bloodied face has been shared
                                                                                                                                                                                around social networks during the autumn 2017
                                                                                                                                                                                Catalan referendum.”

     3 Screenshots were taken November 2018 - March 2019.

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
2    ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT, CONTEXT AND DATE MANIPULATION   3    CENSORSHIP

     MACRON DANCES WHILE FRANCE SUFFERS                       THE YELLOW VEST MOVEMENT IS BEING CENSORED

     FAKE NEWS: This video was posted on Facebook             FAKE NEWS: This post was published on November             VERIFICATION: The post is still available on the
     on November 17, 2018, the day the first Yellow           25, 2018, with the caption “this picture has just          platform and as fact-checkers from Le Monde have
     Vests protests happened. The video depicts               been erased, share massively,” insinuating that the        said, “this image taken by photographer Olivier Coret
     President Macron and his wife dancing to Middle          content had been censored.                                 has been used to illustrate many online publications
     Eastern-sounding music at a gala event with the                                                                     that have not been censored on Facebook or
     caption, “And while France is suffering,” insinuating    REACH: When first published with the censorship            elsewhere. [...] the very fact that this photo was
     Macron was “partying” while French citizens were         accusations, massive sharing started and by March          published on November 25 and is still available […]
     protesting.                                              6, 2019, it reached over 349K shares, leading to over      proves that there was no censorship.”
                                                              8.9M estimated views. The image, with the false
     REACH: The video went viral within days, reaching        caption, was still available at the close of this study.
     5.7M views and over 183K shares by March 6,
     2019.

     VERIFICATION: The original video was published
     a month before the first Yellow Vest protests
     happened, on October 11. It was recorded
     during the International Organization of the
     Francophonie summit in Armenia. Media
     outlets published several articles explaining
     the manipulation of dates and context. At time
     of publication, Facebook still had not issued a
     related article below the video or provided further
     information.

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
4   CONSPIRACY THEORY, POLITICAL NEWS MANIPULATION                                               5    ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT SUPPORTED BY PUBLIC FIGURES

     MACRON IS SELLING FRANCE AFTER SIGNING THE MARRAKECH PACT                                        GERARD LANVIN, A FAMOUS FRENCH ACTOR, PUBLISHED AN
                                                                                                      OPEN LETTER AGAINST MACRON AND HIS GOVERNMENT
                                                  FAKE NEWS: A man named Romeo Piacquaddio
                                                  recorded himself in early December 2018
                                                  describing an extremely important message he
                                                  received on his phone. He plays the audio of an
                                                  unidentified woman warning that Macron was
                                                  going to “sell France by signing the UN migration
                                                  pact on December 10.” The female voice then
                                                  claimed that after signing this treaty, Macron
                                                  would resign and that the Yellow Vest movement
                                                  would be used as a cover up.

                                                  REACH: The video was shared 108K times and
                                                  reached over 3.1M views by March 6, 2019.
                                                  Disinformation about the Marrakech UN Migration
                                                  Pact, warning of alarming mass migration into
                                                  France, was shared across multiple Yellow Vest
                                                  groups, including by Maxime Nicolle, one of the
                                                  leaders of the movement.

                                                  VERIFICATION: Articles by multiple newspapers,
                                                  such as Le Monde, have since refuted claims
                                                  that the treaty would lead to open borders or
                                                  that countries would be forced to change their
                                                  migration policies. The controversy started
                                                  spreading in France in early 2018 when extreme
                                                  right pages such as Breiz Atao and Polémia began
                                                  sharing the content. By late November, the topic    FAKE NEWS: On December 8, 2018 a letter allegedly        people. The first post spreading the disinformation
                                                  became popular in the Yellow Vest groups.           written by French actor Gérard Lanvin, criticizing       has been removed by Facebook, but variations of
                                                                                                      President Macron and his government, was shared          the same content (1, 2, 3) can still be found without
                                                                                                      widely on social media. It strongly condemned            any alert from the platform.
                                                                                                      public officials as well, saying that people who “from
                                                                                                      birth to death live off of public funds, enjoy special
                                                                                                      social security benefits and are exempt from taxes,
                                                                                                      should at least have the decency of not talking about
                                                                                                      equality.”

                                                                                                      REACH: In less than 48 hours, this post was shared
                                                                                                      over 251K with over 6.4M estimated views. The
                                                                                                      same post, or similar variations, were shared on
                                                                                                      different pages and groups on Facebook (see
                                                                                                      screenshot at right).

                                                                                                      VERIFICATION: The letter shared was not written
                                                                                                      by Gérard Lanvin. The actor claimed he was a victim
                                                                                                      of identity theft and has since reported the incident
                                                                                                      to the authorities. The fake news took excerpts of a
                                                                                                      real letter published in 2013 by the actor, originally
                                                                                                      addressed to then President François Hollande,
                                                                                                      around a controversial income tax for wealthier

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
6    POLICE BRUTALITY AND ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT

     A MOTHER IN THE NETHERLANDS IS ARRESTED BECAUSE
     SHE REFUSED TO TAKE OFF HER YELLOW VEST.

     FAKE NEWS: The video was first shared by “Pegida
     Nederland.” It was filmed in the Netherlands and
     the caption says, that the police arrests a lady with
     a stroller because she refused to remove the yellow
     vest.

     REACH: The video was quickly translated to French,
     English and Italian. The English version alone
     received 32K shares, and an estimated 1.3M views,
     by March 6, 2019. Many comments expressed
     outrage over the perceived police brutality directed
     toward a woman with a child, and interpreted the
     incident as an attack on freedom of expression.

     VERIFICATION: According to AFP, the woman in
     the video had raised the suspicion of police forces
     because she was walking with a doll in a stroller, not
     with a baby, and once she wasn’t able to prove her
     identity, she was detained, which is in accordance to
     Dutch law.

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YELLOW VESTS FLOODED BY FAKE NEWS - OVER 100M VIEWS OF DISINFORMATION ON FACEBOOK
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         OUR METHODOLOGY                                                                                                The 100 fake news stories we selected are mostly malicious, made up or factually
                                                                                                                        incorrect posts. But they also include purposefully misleading content that is
                                                                                                                        either out of date, is taken out of context, or its content is regarded as either
                                                                                                                        factually uncertain and at least partially inaccurate. As stated above, all of them
           Facebook has long been criticized for the lack of transparency it provides to fact-                          have been fact-checked by French or international media.
           checkers, governments, media and the wider public about the spread of content.
           However, Avaaz’s team of data scientists and researchers used a combination of                            JJ VIEWERSHIP CALCULATION FOR FAKE NEWS VIDEOS: Our fake news selection
           Facebook’s public data, analytics tools like CrowdTangle, fact-checks by French and                          contained 37 examples of fake news video content accumulating to a total of
           international media and statistical modeling to arrive at what we believe provides a                         42,777,224 views and 1,666,743 shares. We followed Facebook’s definition of what
           credible and conservative picture of the reach and impact these fake news stories                            constitutes a “view,” that is, a viewing experience that lasts 3 seconds or longer4.
           have had in France.
                                                                                                                     JJ VIEWERSHIP ESTIMATION FOR IMAGES AND TEXT: Facebook discloses the
                                                                                                                        number of views for videos, but for posts containing only text and image content
         JJ TIME FRAME: The first national Yellow Vest movement demonstration was on                                    the platform displays only the number of shares and other interactions, such as
            November 17, 2018. However, many of the Facebook groups and pages at the core of                            likes or comments. Therefore, in order to estimate viewership for text and image
            the movement were created weeks earlier. For this reason, we focused our Facebook                           content we designed a metric based on the publicly available statistics of the
            research on content created between November 1, 2018 and March 6, 2019.                                     Facebook videos analyzed in our study, taking into account the total number of
                                                                                                                        video views and dividing it by the total number of video shares. Facebook reports
         JJ SCOPE: A number of analyses and media reports have shown strong evidence that
                                                                                                                        a “video view” only after 3 seconds, while an image or text can be considered as
            Facebook was by far the most popular social media platform used by the Yellow Vest
                                                                                                                        “viewed” and having an actual impact in less than 3 seconds (e.g. just scrolling by
            movement participants. We examined social media posts shared by pages, groups and
                                                                                                                        an image of a bleeding woman, police brutality or claims of censorship). Therefore,
            profiles associated with the movement and limited our analysis to posts containing
                                                                                                                        the estimation of total views in this study is very likely lower than the actual total
            text, images and videos while excluding links to outside content.
                                                                                                                        viewership of all content and therefore is to be seen as a conservative figure.

         JJ TOTAL NUMBER OF FAKE NEWS VETTED, SHARES, AND VIEWS:                                                     JJ ENGAGEMENT RATE CALCULATION FOR IMAGES AND TEXT: As laid out above,
                                                                                                                        the metric to estimate the views of images and text is based on the “average
                                                                                                                        Yellow Vest fake viral content engagement rate” (from now just “YV engagement
                                   FAKE NEWS POSTS                 SHARES                     VIEWS                     rate,” with YV standing for Yellow Vests), which is calculated by using the available
                                                                                                                        video data with the following formula:
            VIDEOS                                   37          1,666,743               42,777,224
                                                                                                                        YV engagement rate = (YV video views/YV video shares)
            IMAGES & TEXT                            63          2,438,894         62,594,602 (est.)
                                                                                                                        Based on the 37 fake news videos in our database, the average YV engagement rate is:

            TOTAL                                   100          4,105,637      105,371,826 (est.)                      42,777,224 video views / 1,666,743 video shares = 25.6651589 views/share

                                                                                                                        The average YV engagement rate is then multiplied for the number of shares of
         JJ FAKE NEWS SOURCES AND SELECTION CRITERIA: We used three different strategies                                posts for which views are not provided by Facebook (containing images and text).
            to identify the fake news for our analysis: a) We collected all the Yellow Vest-related
                                                                                                                        YV engagement rate * YV image and text shares = estimated YV image and text views
            fake news reported by the main fact-checking websites in France (including but not
            limited to: AFP Factuel, 20 Minutes, Les Décodeurs and Checknews); b) Using the
                                                                                                                        The total number of estimated views for posts containing images and text are:
            analytics tool CrowdTangle, we selected 198 public groups and pages used by the
            Yellow Vest movement and scrutinized their posts to identify fake news; and c) We                           25.6651589 views/share * 2,438,894 shares = 62,594,602 total estimated views
            added the fake news from Le Monde’s own research based on another group of 204
            Yellow Vest Facebook groups from October 31 to January 22. Out of those, we selected                        Therefore, the total number of views ( video views + estimated views for image and text) is:
            the 100 most shared posts among the fake news we had identified.
                                                                                                                        62,594,602 video views + 42,777,224 est. image and text views = 105,371,826 est. views
         JJ CATEGORIES OF FAKE NEWS INCLUDED IN THE STUDY: We included in our
            study content that falls within the definition of disinformation as articulated by the
            EU Code of Practice on Disinformation: “verifiably false or misleading information                          All the posts mentioned in this research were active and available as of March 6,
            which, cumulatively, (a) ‘Is created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to                    2019 or screenshots of the original posts together with data on shares and views
            intentionally deceive the public’; and (b) ‘may cause public harm’, intended as ‘threats                    were provided and can be found in the annex.
            to democratic political and policymaking processes as well as public goods such as the
            protection of EU citizens’ health, the environment or security.”

                                                                                                       4
                                                                                                           https://www.facebook.com/business/news/Coming-Soon-Video-Metrics

18                                                                                                                                                                                                                     19
5
                THE RUSSIA EFFECT - RT FRANCE
                                                                                                                      Figure 5.1 -- Top 20 channels publishing Yellow Vest content, ordered by number of views
                DOMINATES THE YOUTUBE DEBATE                                                                          and based on the 500 most relevant Yellow Vest videos, Nov. 1, 2018 - Mar. 7, 2019

                                                                                                                      FRENCH YOUTUBE CHANNELS WITH THE
     A second part of the report focused on YouTube,                                                                  HIGHEST NUMBER OF VIEWS
     and two datasets were analyzed.
                                                                                                                      Based on the 500 most relevant videos for the search query “Gilet Jaune”
     The first one looked at the 500 most relevant Yellow
     Vest videos after September 2018 according to the
     YouTube algorithm when running a search query
     for “Gilets Jaunes” both for the French language and
     for the French region code. Although this dataset
     only allows a partial picture of total views for each
     channel, being based only on the top 500 videos, it
     allows us to assess the biggest channels producing
     the most relevant Yellow Vest content and their
     relative strength on YouTube.
     The second dataset was obtained by querying RT
     France’s channel and other mainstream media
     channels - Le Monde, L’Obs, FRANCE 24, Le Figaro,
     LeHuffPost - using the YouTube API, and filtering the
     data to retain only videos uploaded after September
     2018 with the search query “Gilets Jaunes.” This
     allows a much more precise comparison of their
     viewerships.
     The results from both datasets are overwhelmingly
     clear: RT France is the most viewed channel on
     videos related to the Yellow Vests in France and
     accumulated more than twice as many views
     (23,1M) than Le Monde, L’Obs, FRANCE 24, Le
     Figaro, LeHuffPost combined (10,9M).
     According to the US Director of National Intelligence,
     RT (Russia Today) is “the Kremlin’s principal
     international propaganda outlet” and “contributed
     to the influence campaign” of the 2016 US elections5.
     In the US, RT has been suspended by Twitter from
     ad-buying in the fall-out from the US elections due
     to their clear bias6. YouTube rolled out a feature in
     the US in 2018 informing users if they’re watching
     a video from an organization that receives funding                                                               Another observation from Figure 5.1, is that alternative media, YouTuber and citizen
     from a government. At the close of this study,                                                                   journalists, including a few channels featuring conspiracy theories, have more
     we have not found that such notifications were                                                                   visibility on YouTube than most of the traditional media, many of which are not even
     shown to YouTube users in Europe, nor do we have                                                                 featured in the top 20.
     indications that this will be implemented in Europe
     ahead of the EU elections in May7.

     5
         https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf    7
                                                                    https://youtube.googleblog.com/2018/02/greater-
                                                                    transparency-for-users-around.html
     6
         https://www.npr.org/2017/10/26/560199026/twitter-
         ends-russian-state-media-advertisements-citing-2016-
         interference-efforts?t=1552208868105

20                                                                                                                                                                                                               21
RT France’s dominance is even more clear when looking at the number of videos          As mentioned above, to further study RT France’s content and publishing
     uploaded on Yellow Vests. Among the top 500 YouTube results, the Russian state         behavior, we queried RT France’s YouTube channel using the YouTube API. The
     media has 3 times more videos (101) than the second biggest publisher (Le              original dataset contained 17,340 observations (videos) between September 2014
     Media - 30) and more than the next 7 channels cumulatively (100).                      and March 2019. As a first step, we filtered the data to retain only observations
                                                                                            uploaded after September 2018.
                                                                                            This second dataset strengthens our analysis. 18 out of the 20 most viewed
     Figure 5.2 -- Top 20 channels publishing Yellow Vest content, ordered by number of     videos on RT France’s YouTube channel since September 2018 are about the
     videos uploaded and based on the 500 most relevant Yellow Vest videos, Nov. 11, 2018   Yellow Vests. The following graph shows these top 20 videos by view count. The
     - Mar. 7, 2019                                                                         orange bars are Yellow Vest-related videos.

                                                                                            Figure 5.3 -- Top 20 RT France’s videos by view count Sep. 1, 2018 - Mar. 6, 2019
     FRENCH YOUTUBE CHANNELS WITH THE
     HIGHEST NUMBER OF UPLOADED VIDEOS                                                      18 OUT OF 20 OF RT FRANCE’S MOST VIEWED
                                                                                            YOUTUBE VIDEOS ARE ABOUT THE YELLOW VESTS
                                                                                            Top 20 videos by view count since September 2018

22                                                                                                                                                                              23
RT FRANCE’S VIDEOS ABOUT THE YELLOW VESTS
                                                                                           MARSHALED THE MOST VIEWS
     RT France has massively invested in coverage of the Yellow Vest protests, including
     hour-long live coverage videos, and as a result, dominated the debate about           Based on each channel’s videos published since September 2018
     Yellow Vests on YouTube in France more than any other YouTube channel, let
     alone mainstream media. RT has permeated the movement to the extent that
     protesters at one point chanted “Thank You, RT! Thank You, RT!” which the global
     RT network posted directly onto their YouTube channel.

                                                                                            YT CHANNEL                      UPLOADED VIDEOS                   TOTAL VIEWS

                                                                                            RT France                                          588                    23,128,218
                                                                                            RT France Total                                   588                   23,128,218
                                                                                            Le Monde                                            18                     3,216,740
     To assess the full reach of RT France on YouTube, we compared the channel’s total      L’Obs                                               24                     3,014,017
     views with those of the the largest mainstream media in France by retrieving all
                                                                                            FRANCE 24                                          157                     2,513,408
     videos about the Yellow Vests since September 2018 from the YouTube channels
     of LeMonde, L’Obs and LeHuffPost (all of which were present in the top 20              Le Figaro                                           43                     1,342,060
     channels of the first data set). In addition, we retrieved videos from two more
                                                                                            LeHuffPost                                          14                      795,934
     channels which are among the most well-known and highest-circulation media,
     France 24 and Le Figaro.                                                               Mainstream 5 Total                                256                   10,882,159

     The results show that on YouTube, the information diet is not mainly made up           RT France / Mainstream 5                         230%                         213%
     of quality journalism from within France - but by Russian state media and lots of
     fringe actors (see initial analysis on 500 most relevant videos):
      • RT France has accumulated more than twice as many views (23.1M) as Le              Note: The difference in the total views for RT France from the first dataset (13M views)
        Monde, L’Obs, FRANCE 24, Le Figaro and LeHuffPost combined (10.9M)                 and the second dataset (23M views) derives from the fact that the first dataset looked
                                                                                           at the 500 most relevant YouTube Videos on Yellow Vests in France, and thus only
      • RT France has also uploaded more than twice as many videos (588) than Le           taking into account 101 videos from RT France, arriving at 13M views within the top
        Monde, L’Obs, FRANCE 24, Le Figaro and LeHuffPost combined (256)                   500 search queries from September 2018 to March 2019. The second dataset queried
                                                                                           the entire RT France YouTube channels and retrieved a total of 588 videos for the
                                                                                           query “Gilets jaunes”, arriving at a total of 23M views since September 2018.

24                                                                                                                                                                                    25
6
             THE SOLUTION:
        CORRECT                                             In our view,
                                                            Correct the Record would be
                                                                                                                 Corrections work:
                                                                                                                 Multiple peer-reviewed studies

     THE RECORD.
                                                            a five-step process:                                 have demonstrated that effective
                                                                                                                 corrections can reduce and
                                                                                                                 even eliminate the effects of
                                                                                                                 disinformation. Additional studies
                                                            1. DEFINE: The obligation to correct the record      disproved the theory of the “backfire
                                                               would be activated when                           effect,” showed that corrections do
     Avaaz believes that the fake news surrounding the                                                           not entrench false beliefs and came
                                                                •   Independent fact-checkers verify that
     Yellow Vests has been especially impactful, because                                                         to the conclusion that corrections
                                                                    content is false or misleading;
     the vast majority of millions of French citizens                                                            work. Meanwhile, researchers are
     exposed to it have never been informed if they             •   A significant number of people, e.g.         converging on best practices for
     have seen fake news, or seen factual corrections.              10,000, viewed the content.                  effective corrections like emphasizing
     Because even if content is fact-checked and found                                                           factual information while avoiding,
     to be untrue, Facebook only shows what they call                                                            whenever possible, repeating the
     “related articles” to a very small percentage of the   2. DETECT: platforms must
                                                                                                                 original misinformation.
     users who have actually seen the fake news (mostly         •   Deploy an accessible and prominent
     people who shared or want to share the content).               mechanism for users to report
     But the solution to this problem is simple:                    disinformation;
     Platforms must themselves work with fact-                  •   Provide independent fact-checkers with
     checkers to “Correct the Record” by distributing               access to content that has reached e.g.
     independent third party corrections to EVERY                   10,000 or more people.                       To the right is a mock up suggestion
     SINGLE person who saw the false information                                                                 of what the corrections could look
     in the first place. Newspapers publish corrections                                                          like on users’ timelines:
                                                            3. VERIFY: Platforms must work with
     on their own pages, television stations on their own
                                                               independent, third-party, verified fact-
     airwaves; platforms should do the same on their
                                                               checkers to determine whether reported
     own channels. No one else can do it.
                                                               content is disinformation within 24 hours.
     Avaaz believes that Correct the Record is likely the
     most powerful action platforms can take ahead of
     the upcoming EU elections to restore the public’s      4. ALERT: Each user exposed to verified
     trust and to ensure the integrity of the elections.       disinformation should be notified immediately
     It has been portrayed as a “radical new proposal          using the platform’s most visible notification
     [that] could curb fake news on social media” by           standard.
     TIME magazine.
     Governments protect consumers and participants         5. CORRECT: Each user exposed to
     in financial and energy markets from false and            disinformation should receive a correction that
     misleading information, including by making it            is of at least equal prominence to the original
     possible to issue corrections when disinformation         content and that follows best practices, which
     could influence people’s decisions. We should             could include:
     offer our democracies the same protections we
                                                                •   Offering reasoned alternative
     offer our markets.
                                                                    explanation, keeping the user’s worldview
                                                                    in mind;
                                                                •   Emphasizing factual information while
                                                                    avoiding, whenever possible, repeating
                                                                    the original misinformation;
                                                                •   Citing endorsement by sources the user
                                                                    is likely to trust.

26                                                                                                                                                        27
ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz is a global citizens movement with over 50 million
supporters in every country of the world, including about
20 million members in Europe. The research for this
study was carried out by a team of investigative reporters,
researchers, and data analysts set up by Avaaz to detect and
deter disinformation ahead of the EU elections. Over the
next few months, Avaaz members from across Europe will
be working alongside this newly launched team to monitor
disinformation operations across the European Union,
help identify fake news and prevent their viral spreading,
support in uncovering the networks driving it, and work with
platforms and governments to correct false or misleading
content and hold perpetrators accountable. Avaaz is aiming
to provide more of such in-depth reports to inform the public
and decision makers about the spread of disinformation
across the continent.
If you want to schedule an interview with one of Avaaz’s
campaign directors or simply stay informed about
further reports and investigations from our team -
please get in touch with

Julie Deruy: +33676477259 / julie@avaaz.org
Andrew Legon: +447429865292 / andrew.legon@avaaz.org
12/03/2019
Annex - The 100 top fake news analyzed in this
study

Name of Video             Views      Shares    Link to Fake news               Link to Fact-Check

                                                                               https://observers.france24.com/fr/2
                                               https://www.facebook.com/pa     0181203-emmanuel-macron-danse-
                                               t51343/videos/vb.100007099      il-alors-mouvement-gilets-jaunes-de
                                               055800/2072455656334383/        bute?fbclid=IwAR0BgNafi_T-HSbU
Macron dances while                            ?type=2&video_source=user       53vPSZtOIVtx4YYjywhN8wXODfhK
France is protesting     5,700,000   183,392   _video_tab                      ypfB2nGtXh-qCHM

                                               https://web.archive.org/web/2
                                               0181210110228/www.facebo
                                               ok.com/photo.php?fbid=1021      https://factuel.afp.com/non-gerard-l
                                               7401146005830&set=a.1020        anvin-nest-pas-lauteur-dune-lettre-o
Fake Gerard Lanvin                             1689078253956&type=3&the        uverte-anti-macron-tres-virale-sur-f
letter                   6,467,620   252,000   ater                            acebook

                                                                           https://factuel.afp.com/la-police-bor
                                                                           deaux-retire-son-casque-en-soutien
Police officers taking                                                     -aux-gilets-jaunes-une-interpretatio
                                               https://www.facebook.com/be n-douteuse?fbclid=IwAR16c-pRvPI
off their helmets -                            njamin.e.dupouy/videos/1021 wyGS48Tehpj-c7856YsrHSdQT0Pz
Bordeaux                 3,300,000   121,983   8125252782142/              qXI0hdjmo3uuLagoDtSI

Police officers taking
off their helmets
allegedly in support
                                               https://www.facebook.com/gi
of Yellow Vest                                 no.glaco.5/posts/5435501028 https://www.facebook.com/afpfactu
protesters - Pau         777,000     26,815    28676                       el/posts/417881982085211

                                               https://www.facebook.com/sn https://observers.france24.com/en/2
Fake police violence                           oirotetthielen/posts/19716360 0181129-debunked-videos-yellow-v
pictures                 3,511,456   136,818   99572802                      ests-france-protests

Mother stopped in
the Netherlands as
she allegedly didn’t
                                               https://www.facebook.com/mf https://factuel.afp.com/gilets-jaunes
want to take off her                           amediagroup/videos/3815877 -acte-viii-le-ballet-des-vraies-et-faus
yellow vest              1,300,000   31,915    19256076/                   ses-informations

Mother stopped in                              https://www.facebook.com/id
the Netherlands as                             entitaitalianuova/videos/1960
she allegedly didn’t                           103320710589/UzpfSTEwMz
                                               EyMzQ3OTQ6MTAyMTUyO https://factuel.afp.com/gilets-jaunes
want to take off her                           TA5MDYwMzkxOTU/?__tn__ -acte-viii-le-ballet-des-vraies-et-faus
yellow vest              676,000     21,616    =-R                           ses-informations

                                                                           https://twitter.com/AfpFactuel/status
                                                                           /1066992424361312256?fbclid=Iw
                                               https://www.facebook.com/ya AR2DqhCcUFpETKnaTBdFs9t8Pd
Macron dances while                            nn.juarez/posts/28509526115 Xc-mHjU3Uuz_pnrh4X3SSCKe8Ue
France is protesting 4,944,624       192,659   87557                       _Ov5t8
https://www.facebook.com/ph
Police allegedly                                oto.php?fbid=196905169654
                                                8925&set=pb.100003323406
supporting Yellow                               258.-2207520000.154444768 https://twitter.com/AfpFactuel/status
Vest protesters          4,619,857    180,005   8.&type=3&theater           /1066818934664511489

Video of police                                                             https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.f
officers taking off                                                         r/occitanie/herault/montpellier/herau
                                                https://www.facebook.com/gr lt-melenchon-victime-infox-confond-
their helmets -                                 oups/283520695621830/per frontignan-bordeaux-chaleur-soutie
Montpellier              4,468, 048   174,090   malink/293590931281473      n-1579669.html

Police officers taking
off their helmets
allegedly in support                                                        https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/
                                                https://www.facebook.com/An 2018/12/04/des-policiers-ont-ils-enl
of Yellow Vest                                  tiMacron/videos/3469978994 eve-leur-casque-face-aux-gilets-jau
protesters - Pau          567,000     19,320    12658/                      nes_1695952

Police officers taking
off their helmets
allegedly in support                            https://www.facebook.com/W    https://factcheck.afp.com/police-taki
                                                arPlanPurple/videos/vb.8053   ng-their-helmets-support-yellow-ves
of Yellow Vest                                  79166327747/568837880219      ts-misleading-interpretation-real-vid
protesters - Pau          39,000       760      601/?type=2&theater           eo

Police officers taking
off their helmets
allegedly in support
of Yellow Vest                                                              https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/23
                                                https://www.facebook.com/En 88375-20181205-forces-ordre-elles
protesters -                                    Causee/videos/56690287707 -retire-casque-soutenir-gilets-jaune
Bordeaux                  17,000       550      9641/                       s

                                                                              https://factuel.afp.com/hors-context
                                                                              e-anciennes-ou-faussement-legend
Police beating                                  https://www.facebook.com/w    eestoutes-les-images-de-violences-
students (outdated)      3,600,000    161,862   atch/?v=348619922581785       en-marge-du-mouvement

Outdated police
violences and                                   https://www.facebook.com/gr
allegedly being                                 oups/298362254331895/per https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
erased                   3,516,127    137,000   malink/317972172370903      qNvdpPHzniY

Disobedience call                                                           https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/23
                                                https://www.facebook.com/dj 82079-20181128-video-gilets-jaune
from an alleged                                 ohn.attend.5/videos/2139730 s-policier-vraiment-publie-videos-so
policeman                3,900,000    248,867   536342642/                  utien-mouvement

Macron hired
mercenaries; secret                                                         http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/gilet
                                                https://www.facebook.com/ni s-jaunes-les-mercenaires-de-macro
services support                                cole.guegan.735/videos/2709 n-et-autres-intox-qui-pullulent-sur-fa
Yellow Vest protests     3,500,000    135,169   389059285694/               cebook-05-12-2018-7961382.php
https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
                                                                          rs/article/2018/12/06/vendre-la-fran
                                                                          ce-a-l-onu-de-donald-trump-aux-gil
                                                                          ets-jaunes-l-itineraire-mondial-d-un
                                                                          e-intox_5393268_4355770.html?fbc
                                              https://www.facebook.com/ro lid=IwAR06HAH5kjMq5XITvN2a3H
Marrakech Pact                                meo.piacquaddio/videos/143 ZdkVhIp-dx-RdjgZvndaXiF1zbuzaF
conspiracy              3,100,000   108,617   0180387116830/              yCfBsfI

Migration conspiracy                                                       https://news.konbini.com/societe/m
                                              https://www.facebook.com/m acron-va-vendre-la-france-le-pacte-
- Macron is selling                           axime.nicolle/videos/1021769 de-marrakech-la-nouvelle-fake-new
France to the UN        217,000      4,923    8440910128/                  s-en-vogue

                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-france
Marine Le Pen                                                             -ne-va-pas-abandonner-sa-souverai
speech on                                                                 nete-migratoire-en-signant-un-pacte
Marrakech Pact (FB                                                        -des-nations-unies?fbclid=IwAR2P
                                              https://www.facebook.com/gr H9HiPSbbi2UpEiNMRMlzlzwAPne
group still active,                           oups/278399246342519/per SEvHqDA6s7SNFdrWkQrvCKFOrO
need to be member)      1,770,896   69,000    malink/300627614119682      CM

                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-france
                                                                          -ne-va-pas-abandonner-sa-souverai
                                                                          nete-migratoire-en-signant-un-pacte
Marrakech Pact                                                            -des-nations-unies?fbclid=IwAR2P
                                              https://www.facebook.com/gr H9HiPSbbi2UpEiNMRMlzlzwAPne
Conspiracy - MEP                              oups/278399246342519/per SEvHqDA6s7SNFdrWkQrvCKFOrO
misinformation          1,000,000   56,858    malink/300627614119682      CM

Marrakech Pact
Conspiracy -
                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-france
Misinterpretation                                                         -ne-va-pas-abandonner-sa-souverai
about the pact                                                            nete-migratoire-en-signant-un-pacte
("organizing total                                                        -des-nations-unies?fbclid=IwAR2P
                                              https://www.facebook.com/an H9HiPSbbi2UpEiNMRMlzlzwAPne
migration from Africa                         nie.duzan/posts/2157874307 SEvHqDA6s7SNFdrWkQrvCKFOrO
to France")             1,066,182   41,542    557657                      CM

Marrakech Pact
conspiracy - says
that the pact will
                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-france
promote immigration,                                                      -ne-va-pas-abandonner-sa-souverai
institutionalize the                                                      nete-migratoire-en-signant-un-pacte
right to migrate and                                                      -des-nations-unies?fbclid=IwAR2P
                                              https://www.facebook.com/ni H9HiPSbbi2UpEiNMRMlzlzwAPne
encourage media                               colasdupontaignan/videos/51 SEvHqDA6s7SNFdrWkQrvCKFOrO
censorship              905,343     40,225    1614106004087/              CM

                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-france
                                                                          -ne-va-pas-abandonner-sa-souverai
                                                                          nete-migratoire-en-signant-un-pacte
Marrakech Pact                                https://www.facebook.com/ph -des-nations-unies?fbclid=IwAR2P
                                              oto.php?fbid=211198205578 H9HiPSbbi2UpEiNMRMlzlzwAPne
conspiracy - misc.                            2206&set=a.1862137867433 SEvHqDA6s7SNFdrWkQrvCKFOrO
misinformation          568,637     22,156    294&type=3&theater          CM
https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-france
                                                                          -ne-va-pas-abandonner-sa-souverai
                                             https://www.facebook.com/M nete-migratoire-en-signant-un-pacte
                                             yleneTroszczynskiFN/videos/ -des-nations-unies?fbclid=IwAR2P
                                             pacte-de-marrakech-trahison- H9HiPSbbi2UpEiNMRMlzlzwAPne
Misinformation about                         de-nos-%C3%A9lites/197409 SEvHqDA6s7SNFdrWkQrvCKFOrO
the Marrakech Pact      86,000     5,624     6169347223/                  CM

                                                                         https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
                                                                         rs/article/2019/01/31/dans-le-facebo
                                                                         ok-des-gilets-jaunes-le-vrai-du-faux
                                                                         -des-affirmations_5417270_435577
YV protest picture                                                       0.html#episode_cette_image_montr
                                             https://www.facebook.com/gr ant_des_gilets_jaunes_rassembles
being deliberately                           oups/1136704289828258/per _pres_de_larc_de_triomphe_a_t_ell
deleted by Facebook 8,967,432      349,401   malink/1144241582407862     e_ete_censuree

                                                                             https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-france
                                                                             -ne-va-pas-abandonner-sa-souverai
Conspiracy and                                                               nete-migratoire-en-signant-un-pacte
disinformation about                                                         -des-nations-unies?fbclid=IwAR2P
                                             https://www.facebook.com/Li     H9HiPSbbi2UpEiNMRMlzlzwAPne
the Marrakech Pact                           gueDuMidi/videos/16134328       SEvHqDA6s7SNFdrWkQrvCKFOrO
(post removed)          87,000     4,518     02089721/                       CM

                                             https://www.facebook.com/43 https://www.franceculture.fr/geopolit
UN plot to take over                         1870643589953/posts/19213 ique/le-pacte-de-marrakech-provoq
the world               6,057       236      40811309588                 uera-t-il-une-invasion-migratoire

UN planning the                                                              https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
replacement of                               https://www.facebook.com/m      rs/article/2018/12/06/vendre-la-fran
                                             onot.bernard/videos/3615535     ce-a-l-onu-de-donald-trump-aux-gil
European population                          17934236/?v=361553517934        ets-jaunes-l-itineraire-mondial-d-un
by migrants            2,000,000   72,457    236                             e-intox_5393268_4355770.html

Police creating
violence with                                                             https://www.francetvinfo.fr/economi
undercover agents +                                                       e/transports/gilets-jaunes/on-a-pass
missing license                                                           e-au-crible-les-rumeurs-relayees-pa
                                             https://www.facebook.com/m r-fly-rider-la-star-des-gilets-jaunes-d
plates + migration                           axime.nicolle/videos/1021769 ont-les-videos-cartonnent-sur-faceb
conspiracy             288,000     8,550     3779593598/                  ook_3085529.html

                                                                         https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
                                                                         rs/article/2016/12/30/quels-pays-eur
Untrue claim that                                                        opeens-remunerent-le-mieux-leurs-
French MPs salary                                                        elus_5055895_4355770.html?fbclid
                                             https://www.facebook.com/gr =IwAR2cfuA6o14zjzwcQLuZE0aUB
higher than in                               oups/310403819778193/per eWM1N2AYwYyXlboVYxc8hBfhAQ
Germany                2,406,288   93,757    malink/342917016526873      Z0hwSH-M

                                                                             https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-
                                                                             divers-justice/fausse-video-de-l-agr
Picture of rugby                                                             ession-d-un-handicape-a-quimper-l
supporters used for                                                          e-prefet-du-finistere-porte-plainte-1
                                             https://twitter.com/AfpFactuel/ 542826305?fbclid=IwAR0FHiBoSF
illustrating YV                              status/106428747588611276 AYEJU94YHw4bOKTLgOKV833Llx
protest                2,277,655   88,745    8/photo/1                       oG-1wc8X_wwP8RAS7B9G5Hk
https://factuel.afp.com/non-la-presid
                                                                        ente-croate-na-pas-vendu-lavion-pr
Croatia president                                                       esidentiel-et-baisse-son-salaire-de-
                                            https://www.facebook.com/gr 30?fbclid=IwAR3jPjnc5Ocrt02lweCj
giving up her                               oups/310403819778193/per kUSKb3Rh2m8DJAlM18_5O7fz8z
presidential plane     1,918,240   74,741   malink/332905080861400      OYrQ_EClVFhyo

Police intentionally                                                      https://factuel.afp.com/des-policiers
                                                                          -visent-deliberement-ce-gilet-jaune-
throwing a grenade                          https://www.facebook.com/w    avec-une-grenade-la-police-et-le-m
at a protester         1,600,000   57,807   atch/?v=290734811786372       anifestant-ne

French debt created
by a                                                                    https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
Pompidou-Giscard-R                                                      rs/article/2018/12/13/non-la-loi-pom
                                            https://www.facebook.com/gr pidou-giscard-rothschild-de-1973-n-
othschild pact in                           oups/310403819778193/per a-pas-cree-la-dette-francaise_5397
1973                1,470,126      57,281   malink/349923912492850      066_4355770.html

Old picture of a
                                            https://www.facebook.com/ph
guillotine posing as                        oto.php?fbid=102174292771 https://factuel.afp.com/la-fausse-gui
YV stunt               1,328,685   51,770   44713                       llotine-des-gilets-jaunes

Misleading
calculation of the
France minimum
wage (SMIC) after                                                       https://www.20minutes.fr/economie/
                                            https://www.facebook.com/gr 2394647-20181213-gilets-jaunes-n
Macron’s                                    oups/277506326438568/per on-100-euros-supplementaires-vont
announcement           1,017,803   39,657   malink/352579665597900      -rendre-smicards-imposables

Misleading
calculation of the
France minimum
wage (SMIC) after                                                       https://www.20minutes.fr/economie/
                                            https://www.facebook.com/gr 2394647-20181213-gilets-jaunes-n
Macron’s                                    oups/2195779013808193/per on-100-euros-supplementaires-vont
announcement           386,723     15,068   malink/2229245273794900     -rendre-smicards-imposables

Misleading
                                                                        https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
calculation of the                                                      rs/article/2018/12/11/smic-et-prime-
France minimum                                                          d-activite-les-annonces-d-emmanue
wage (SMIC) after                                                       l-macron-en-8-questions_5395831_
                                            https://www.facebook.com/An 4355770.html?fbclid=IwAR0mkhlCc
Macron’s                                    tiMacron/posts/35863787490 eI0r8GW93Bh0dP52Cxq7bx7RF46
announcement           514,612     20,051   1218                        omzGSmJ9V9NJqtGhwK8pKDo

Misleading
calculation of the
France minimum
wage (SMIC) after                                                       https://www.20minutes.fr/economie/
                                            https://www.facebook.com/ev 2394647-20181213-gilets-jaunes-n
Macron’s                                    ents/2214783942114494/per on-100-euros-supplementaires-vont
announcement            9,624       375     malink/2220474998212055/ -rendre-smicards-imposables

Vandalized cars                                                         https://factuel.afp.com/des-voitures-
without plates in                                                       sans-plaque-dimmatriculation-detrui
Paris (need to be                                                       tes-samedi-paris-non-il-ne-sagit-pa
                                            https://www.facebook.com/gr s-dun-complot?fbclid=IwAR1WYBh
member of FB group                          oups/298362254331895/per 9tOM2g4ITeLMZFCJpq3yqFZzFnJ
to visualize)          898,281     35,000   malink/320514445450009      QIQ1XunPapIwxtaGGYgIFFD3o
https://factuel.afp.com/des-voitures-
                                                                        sans-plaque-dimmatriculation-detrui
Vandalized cars                             https://www.facebook.com/pe tes-samedi-paris-non-il-ne-sagit-pa
                                            rmalink.php?story_fbid=7512 s-dun-complot?fbclid=IwAR1gdp3y
without plates in                           53611904495&id=100010595 _WHl38swkzYxTJC5MI6yg7AEzXB
Paris                    592,070   23,069   882897                      3co85eVBic0cCv-XpYDOY0Ts

                                                                               https://factuel.afp.com/des-voitures-
                                            https://factuel.afp.com/sites/d    sans-plaque-dimmatriculation-detrui
Vandalized cars                             efault/files/styles/adaptative/a   tes-samedi-paris-non-il-ne-sagit-pa
                                            daptive-image/public/medias/       s-dun-complot?fbclid=IwAR1gdp3y
without plates in                           factchecking/france/collage.jp     _WHl38swkzYxTJC5MI6yg7AEzXB
Paris (screenshots)      386,261   15,050   g?itok=5q_pfZ9T                    3co85eVBic0cCv-XpYDOY0Ts

                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/des-voitures-
                                                                          sans-plaque-dimmatriculation-detrui
Vandalized cars                                                           tes-samedi-paris-non-il-ne-sagit-pa
                                            https://www.facebook.com/Pa s-dun-complot?fbclid=IwAR1gdp3y
without plates in                           scal.alias.Abdelhakim/posts/1 _WHl38swkzYxTJC5MI6yg7AEzXB
Paris                    79,562    3,100    0211989245758799              3co85eVBic0cCv-XpYDOY0Ts

                                                                         https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/
                                                                         2019/01/29/non-les-deputes-ne-vie
                                                                         nnent-pas-d-augmenter-leur-indem
Wrong or misleading                                                      nite-chomage_1705341?fbclid=IwA
                                            https://www.facebook.com/thi R2J1M8g4EYDHlBR3AXJN6ZXXR
information about                           erry.alaux.11/posts/23107831 WnSYChDoyBVDQciwf_irr62K2IDZ
French MPs' salaries     975,276   38,000   52487792                     ek-lU

                                            https://www.facebook.com/Pe        https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/
Claims protester was                        upleHautsDeFrance/videos/v         2019/01/22/non-un-gilet-jaune-perc
                                            b.2192060847782860/27424           ute-par-une-voiture-de-police-n-est-
in coma after being                         9666574666/?type=2&theate          pas-dans-le-coma-a-cognac_17045
hit by a car             718,000   35,106   r                                  51

                                                                        https://factuel.afp.com/hors-context
                                            https://www.facebook.com/Le e-anciennes-ou-faussement-legend
Police dragging                             trucker1/videos/10689243733 eestoutes-les-images-de-violences-
students by the leg      860,000   30,139   16234/                      en-marge-du-mouvement

                                                                        https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/
                                            https://www.facebook.com/gr 2018/11/30/un-gilet-jaune-a-t-il-ete-t
Protester being killed                      oups/310403819778193/per ue-le-24-novembre-sur-la-place-de-
live on TV               641,629   25,000   malink/326697624815479      l-etoile_1695026

                                                                        https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
                                                                        rs/article/2019/02/01/non-cette-phot
                                                                        o-ne-montre-pas-edouard-philippe-
French prime                                                            dormant-a-l-assemblee-nationale_5
minister sleeping at                                                    417943_4355770.html?fbclid=IwAR
                                            https://www.facebook.com/gr 359MJwEKw2RA-OMOJdI2f_ZFCs
the National                                oups/310403819778193/per AmyK7qsv5hhYjvk2Pfet33ER0nn2
Assembly                 590,299   23,000   malink/324144848404090      wBs
Yellow Vest
protesters blocked                                                       https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2018/1
                                             https://www.facebook.com/gr 2/15/des-gilets-jaunes-accusent-les
by police outside                            oups/310403819778193/per -autorites-de-les-bloquer-pour-emp
Paris                  487,638     19,000    malink/358687604949814      echer-la-mobilisation_a_23618786/

France 3 TV                                  https://www.facebook.com/Pa
                                             gefaitdivers/videos/vb.18010 https://factuel.afp.com/gilets-jaunes
intentionally                                51863514533/172711472406 -demeler-le-vrai-du-faux-de-trois-jo
censoring journalist   127,000     2,998     1836/?type=2&theater         urs-de-mobilisation-0

France 3 TV                                  https://www.facebook.com/Ba
                                             ssiste.de.Fanatic.Control/vide https://factuel.afp.com/gilets-jaunes
intentionally                                os/vb.1234098273/10217681 -demeler-le-vrai-du-faux-de-trois-jo
censoring journalist   3,700,000   119,059   408767031/?type=2&theater urs-de-mobilisation-0

Police break their
own car windows to                                                       https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/
                                             https://www.facebook.com/Pa 2018/12/11/des-policiers-ont-ils-cas
blame Yellow Vest                            nachedu13/videos/22479804 se-eux-memes-le-pare-brise-de-leu
protesters             579,000     21,401    85473363/                   r-vehicule_1697240

Police break their
own car window to
blame Yellow Vest
protesters (content                                                      https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/
                                             https://www.youtube.com/wat 2018/12/11/des-policiers-ont-ils-cas
removed from                                 ch?time_continue=1&v=60xY se-eux-memes-le-pare-brise-de-leu
FB/live on YouTube)    584,000     20,507    hD444gk                     r-vehicule_1697240

France 3 TV
                                             https://www.facebook.com/Fe https://factuel.afp.com/gilets-jaunes
intentionally                                mmesEtFeministes/posts/241 -demeler-le-vrai-du-faux-de-trois-jo
censoring journalist    7,854       306      4038455276945               urs-de-mobilisation-0

Ambulance services
and firefighters
refused to help a                                                              https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/24
                                             https://www.facebook.com/ni       30627-20190118-samu-pompiers-r
Yellow Vest                                  colas.piaser/videos/2432581       efuse-soigner-manifestant-parce-po
protester              416,000     20,152    116814993/                        rtait-gilet-jaune

BFMTV (Live news                                                         https://www.bfmtv.com/societe/non-
                                             https://www.facebook.com/gr bfmtv-n-a-pas-tente-de-manipuler-d
TV) manipulating                             oups/595958337474001/per es-images-des-violences-a-bordeau
info on news ticker    477,706     18,613    malink/619777811758720      x-ce-samedi-1584676.html

                                             https://www.facebook.com/pe
                                             rmalink.php?story_fbid=1994 https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/24
Police shooting at                           928484143432&id=10000878 11011-20190109-gilets-jaunes-crs-t
the Red Cross          436,308     17,000    8994238                     ire-croix-rouge

YV Facebook posts
                                             https://www.facebook.com/gr https://www.bfmtv.com/tech/gilets-ja
censored by the                              oups/179125002966927/per unes-y-a-t-il-une-censure-politique-
government             384,977     15,000    malink/193570878189006      sur-facebook-1580604.html

                                             https://www.20minutes.fr/soci
Police looted a                              ete/2436643-20190126-fact-c       https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/24
                                             hecking-non-video-montre-po       36643-20190126-fact-checking-non
mobile phone shop                            liciers-francais-pillant-magasi   -video-montre-policiers-francais-pill
in Paris               500,000     15,000    n                                 ant-magasin

                                                                          https://factuel.afp.com/non-cette-vid
Interior minister                                                         eo-nest-ni-de-bfm-ni-dune-manifest
talking about the                                                         ation-des-foulards-rouges?fbclid=Iw
                                             https://www.facebook.com/fra AR2OOzIAItoJDUArMmL2E2Ww1-l
500k red-scarf                               nceinfolibre/videos/22759491 6uyQKAZ4gz-R-o471mkPjwJe5sPv
protest                616,000     15,363    36017895/                    Ola0
https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
                                                                       rs/article/2019/02/05/cette-photo-de
                                                                       -pompiers-frappes-par-des-policiers
                                                                       -date-de-2010-pas-des-gilets-jaune
                                           https://www.facebook.com/ph s_5419554_4355770.html?utm_ter
                                           oto.php?fbid=214866588519 m=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&
Police allegedly                           0111&set=a.1477332886167 utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=154
hitting firefighters    403,790   15,733   24&type=1&theater           9379149

Alleged violence and                                                    https://www.20minutes.fr/rennes/24
                                           https://www.facebook.com/un 31415-20190120-gilets-jaunes-renn
death during protest                       citoyenfrancais/posts/684529 es-rumeur-infondee-deces-heurts-lo
in Renne                76,251    2,971    485275763?__tn__=C-R         rs-manifestation

                                                                       https://factuel.afp.com/non-un-helic
Police using                                                           optere-na-pas-tire-des-grenades-la
helicopters to drop                                                    crymogenes-sur-des-gilets-jaunes-t
                                           https://www.facebook.com/gr oulouse?fbclid=IwAR39RidxQE53E
grenades on                                oups/310403819778193/per OFrroWCNuwY0HyJXZhSctC8yS6
protesters              359,312   14,000   malink/394472274704680      wikoJfF_vdslGjqP9HrA

Old picture of the
police hitting a
kneeling protester
(content removed                           https://factuel.afp.com/hors-c
link to fact-checked                       ontexte-anciennes-ou-fausse      https://factuel.afp.com/hors-context
                                           ment-legendeestoutes-les-im      e-anciennes-ou-faussement-legend
article with image of                      ages-de-violences-en-marge-      eestoutes-les-images-de-violences-
post)                   286,372   11,158   du-mouvement                     en-marge-du-mouvement

Distorted figures                          https://www.facebook.com/la      https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/le-m
                                           vraiedemocratie/photos/a.367     ontant-de-la-retraite-de-francois-holl
about former                               009876756408/10770847990         ande-devoilee-09-05-2017-2126091
president pensions      436,308   17,000   82242/?type=3&theater            _20.php

                                                                       https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeu
                                                                       rs/article/2018/12/03/gilets-jaunes-c
                                           https://www.facebook.com/gr onstitution-disparue-et-complotisme
France having "lost                        oups/310403819778193/per -debride-sur-les-reseaux-sociaux_5
its Constitution"       205,000   8,816    malink/326345894850652/     391962_4355770.html

                                                                         https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/
                                                                         2018/12/09/pourquoi-un-vehicule-bli
                                                                         nde-de-la-gendarmerie-arborait-il-u
EuroGendFor,                                                             n-drapeau-europeen-samedi-a-pari
                                           https://www.facebook.com/Pa s_1696961?fbclid=IwAR3QIVlKLlNl
European force in                          scal.alias.Abdelhakim/posts/1 QyVfMv9MYUxPvlsTRTBfA6l13LZq
Paris                   215,587   8,400    0212026918940605              thWStO1NdMDEzA6B68c

Interior minister
wants to allegedly
host "130 French                                                            https://www.lejdd.fr/Societe/syrie-po
                                           https://www.facebook.com/st      urquoi-cest-faux-de-dire-que-130-dji
jihadists in the next                      ephaneravier.rn/videos/9492      hadistes-francais-vont-rentrer-en-fr
weeks"                  238,000   8,336    08388801804/                     ance-3851531

Brigitte Macron
golden sneakers                            https://www.facebook.com/pe      https://www.closermag.fr/politique/n
                                           rmalink.php?story_fbid=2230      on-brigitte-macron-n-a-pas-achete-
allegedly paid for by                      614340512083&id=19453487         des-baskets-en-or-a-725-euros-928
taxes                   215,279   8,388    42371979                         231
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