French Foreign Minister Says Elon Musk Launched 'Massive Online Harassment Campaigns' Against European Leaders to Influence Political Debate

French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has levied a familiar accusation at Elon Musk: that the billionaire owner of X uses his social media platform to meddle and sow discord in elections.

In an October 13 speech, Barrot accused Musk of orchestrating “massive online harassment campaigns” designed to polarize political opinion and amplify far-right organizations.

Speaking at an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development conference, Barrot warned how the polarization of online discourse can lead to the rise of fascism, saying, “The forces seeking to undermine democracy now dominate the information landscape, where they employ tactics designed to polarize public debate.”

Barrot drew a connection between online discourse and France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen, sharing, "The enemies of democracy are doing everything they can to destabilize us. They exploit our divisions and use immigration, secularism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to stoke hatred and tensions.”

He then took a shot at Musk directly, saying, “There are massive online harassment campaigns launched by Elon Musk against European leaders in order to influence debates by exploiting the virality of his social media platform.”

Barrot pointed to Musk's characterization of protests in France, where students and protestors demonstrated to demand better school conditions.

Musk tried to spin the protests through the lens of mass immigration, stating, "It's a slow invasion, but it's an invasion nonetheless. And those who support the invasion are traitors who deserve the fate of all traitors."

Barrot argued that such sentiments played into the aims of Russia's Kremlin.

“The Kremlin’s goal is explicitly stated: to put an end to our liberal democracies in favor of a new authoritarianism. Other actors are converging on this goal, seeking to dictate to Europe which democracies are ‘good’ and which are ‘bad’ based on whether they align with their own interests,” he said.

Russia has been caught propping up right-wing agitators before.

In 2024, conservative shock jocks Tim Pool, Benny Johnson and Dave Rubin, all of whom push far-right agendas, were revealed to have been funded by Russian propagandists.

Musk, 55, is well known to complain about international politics on his platform and stoke anti-immigrant sentiment.

When anti-immigrant riots broke out in Northern Ireland in June, Musk took the side of the rioters, exclaiming, "Murderous migrants beheading innocent people in their home town is what’s making people angry, not ‘social media!'"

In 2023, he amplified "white genocide" conspiracy theories on X, while in 2025, he told a virtual far-right rally, "violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.” He also called for "remigration" of UK immigrants that year.