In December 2025, social networks, particularly Facebook, became a platform for the spread of dangerous deepfakes — videos generated by artificial intelligence that announced an alleged coup in France. The video, which imitated an emergency report from the scene, garnered over 13 million views and caused real alarm not only among ordinary users, but also at the highest political level. French President Emmanuel Macron personally spoke about the incident, emphasizing the threat of disinformation in the age of AI.
The video was designed in the style of a live TV news report. The footage showed a young female “journalist” with a microphone from the fictional station “Live 24” standing in front of the Élysée Palace or the streets of Paris (in some versions, with a military helicopter flying over the Eiffel Tower). She announced in a serious tone: “At present, unofficial information does indeed point to a coup d’état in France, led by a colonel whose identity has not been disclosed, and the possible fall of President Emmanuel Macron.”
This is not the first fake video of its kind: earlier in December, similar videos were circulated, imitating reports by RFI (Radio France Internationale), which also mentioned a “coup led by a colonel.” All of them were posted by the same account (under a username like “ISLAM”), which specialized in sensational AI-generated videos — from animal attacks to fantastic natural phenomena. The video appeared on Facebook around December 9–10, 2025, and quickly went viral, especially in French-speaking communities.
On December 16, 2025, during a meeting with readers of La Provence newspaper in Marseille, Emmanuel Macron shared a shocking story: one of the African leaders (whose name was not disclosed, but who was described as a “serious and respected friend of France”) contacted him in a panic. “Emmanuel, what is happening in your country? Are you safe? Is this a coup?” he asked, referring to a video he had seen.
Macron noted that he was initially surprised by this but quickly realized the scale of the problem. Millions of views created the illusion of authenticity, and even an experienced politician from Africa believed the fake news. The French president called it “chaos” and accused platforms like Facebook of inaction: despite signals from the Élysée Palace, Meta (owner of Facebook) initially refused to remove the video, stating that it “did not violate community rules.”
Only after several days was the video taken down, by which time it had been viewed more than 13–20 million times. Macron called for stricter European regulation of social media so that such “clearly false” content threatening public safety could be removed promptly.
Although there was no widespread panic in France (many users quickly recognized the fake due to its unnaturalness and lack of confirmation in the real media), the incident highlighted the vulnerability of the global information environment. The video spread in African and French-speaking countries, where trust in social media is high and access to verified sources is limited. A single call from a head of state is already a signal of potential diplomatic or even geopolitical tension.
Experts note that such deepfakes are particularly dangerous in the run-up to elections (municipal elections in France in 2026 and presidential elections in 2027). They can sow chaos, undermine trust in the authorities, and even provoke real protests or speculation.