In a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron called for tighter rules on social media platforms to curb foreign interference, as France faces ongoing attempts to influence its municipal election campaign.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to step up enforcement of EU digital regulations to combat foreign election interference ahead of key elections in 2026 and 2027, according to a letter dated March 16 and seen by Euronews.
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The call comes as concerns grow in France about potential election meddling before next year’s presidential race. French security services have identified several interference cases —including from Russia— during the ongoing municipal campaign, with the second round set for Sunday.
“In a geopolitical context marked by a multiplication of hostile stances against the European model and its democratic values, it is crucial that the Union, and with it each Member State, prepare to ensure the integrity of civic discourse and electoral processes, the fairness of elections, and optimal protection against interference operations and information manipulation,” Macron wrote.
Eleven EU countries head to the polls in 2026, with further key elections in 2027 in France, Italy and Poland, where Eurosceptic parties are polling strongly.
Call for rapid EU action
Macron urged von der Leyen to update guidelines originally introduced ahead of the 2024 European elections, pressing platforms such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram’s X and Tik Tok to strengthen their efforts under the EU’s landmark content moderation framework, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
“It’s not about overhauling the DSA, it’s about ensuring it is fully enforced regarding the obligations placed on platforms—namely, assessing and mitigating systemic risks that could disrupt electoral processes,” a French official said.
The letter specifically calls for curbing the virality driven by algorithms, labelling content generated or modified by artificial intelligence, removing fake accounts and respecting transparency obligations for political advertising included in the DSA.
“The Commission must be able, on the basis of reports it receives, to take all the measures allowed under the Digital Services Act (DSA), from injunctions and safeguard measures to sanctions,” the same official said.
Under the DSA, online platforms face fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue.
Probes have already been opened these last years into suspected interference, including against Meta ahead of the 2024 European Parliament vote and against TikTok over its handling of election-related risks during Romania’s November 2024 presidential election.
In Romania, concerns over TikTok’s role in the first-round win of ultranationalist and pro-Russian Călin Georgescu led in 2024 to the annulment of the vote after declassified intelligence documents indicated he may have benefited from coordinated accounts and algorithmic amplification on the platform.
According to Emmanuel Macron, Brussels and EU capitals must be “able to build a genuine complementary strike force, capable of rapid action,” to prevent such foreign interferences.