Paris prosecutors have opened a probe to investigate whether an Israeli company interfered in local French elections after several far-left candidates charged they were targeted by disinformation campaigns.

The probe will examine allegations by three members of the far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) that they faced smear campaigns of false accusations, social media manipulation, and fake campaign visuals.

They include Sebastien Delogu from Marseille in the south and Francois Piquemal in Toulouse in the southwest, who lost their election bids, and David Guiraud in Roubaix in the north, who won the vote to become mayor.

“You get in your car and you see a billboard with your name and a QR code that links to false accusations of rape,” Delogu told reporters last week.

Piquemal said his campaign faced “the creation of pages on social networks spreading the worst rumors,” along with the publication of his social media passwords.

The trio said they were targeted because of their support for the Palestinian cause.

The case was........

© The Times of Israel