For real. The amount of utter nonsense I see on Facebook about it being a Chinese conspiracy to prevent us going anywhere, when all it means is you should be able to, heaven forbid, walk to the shops.

This is true for Québec to a lesser extent too

Russian propaganda pushers pretending to be American, you mean

Russia did push a lot of propaganda and they probably still do, but France clamps down on it from time to time.

Members of the extreme right also follow each other online, so it's not really possible to tell if a french translation of a replacement theory conspiracy meme was made by a Russian at the IRA, or by a genuine french incel.

Putin's trolls also support the far right party of Le Pen and that party repays this support by voicing their support for Putin from time to time, similar to other extreme left/right parties in Europe. Getting Le Pen elected in France would be almost as big a coup for Putin as a re-election of Trump in the Usa: it would damage the eu, NATO, give Wagner free reign over the Sahel and stop french support for Ukraine. And unlike Trump, Le Pen is not an idiot, so she would be able to do a lot more damage in a lot less time. This all makes France a prime target for the Russian propaganda machine.

What France doesn't have (yet), is a popular domestic far right media empire. There is a conservative family building up a similar misinformation empire as that of Murdoch, but they're only getting started, so it's nothing like in the UK or USA (yet): https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230711-france-s-murdoch-right-wing-media-swoop-threatens-pillar-of-french-democracy