Donald Trump and his inner circle are using unrest in France to push unsubstantiated claims blaming the riots on immigration, even showing French protest footage at midterm rallies. But there is no evidence linking immigration to the unrest, and it's prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to accuse world leaders of making “stupid comments” at France’s expense. Trump’s focus comes as Republicans face mounting pressure ahead of the midterms and his approval rating hits a reported record low.

A video showing French riot police violently beating a 26-year-old street medic in Paris has gone viral, with social media users falsely claiming he died from his injuries. But the street medic is alive, and spoke to FRANCE 24. The rumour was fuelled by confusion with a separate incident that same day: a man died of cardiac arrest in the same area, causing online users to conflate the two events. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

AI-generated photos falsely claiming to show an elderly couple being “stripped and robbed” during unrest in France have racked up millions of views. Amplified by far-right accounts, the images fuelled inflammatory claims about Muslims, Jews and the riots. The FRANCE 24 Observers traced one image to an AI photo montage published by a pro-Israel account. The images were created using OpenAI tools, and the alleged assault remains unverified, with no official reports confirming the attack.