Paris accused actors connected to Azerbaijan on Monday, November 13 of leading a campaign of information manipulation aimed at damaging France’s reputation in its ability to host the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
According to a report from Viginum, an organization that fights against foreign digital interference, investigations began on July 26 when “several images calling for the boycott of the 2024 Olympics” were widely shared on X (formerly Twitter).
The investigation was conducted in the context of diplomatic tensions between Paris and Baku. France has been involved in mediating between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two former Soviet republics in conflict for thirty years.
Furthermore, the investigation revealed that out of the 91 accounts, “a significant portion has at least one connection with Azerbaijan”: a photo with the flag of Azerbaijan or Azerbaijani locations, a declared location in Azerbaijan, the presence of Azerbaijani characters, or the promotion of videos or excerpts of statements from the President of Azerbaijan.
Supplementary investigations also identified an account that originated the publication of content targeting the holding of the Olympics on X. The account @MuxtarYev, which posted 15 different images calling for a boycott, was created in June 2023 and claims to be located in Azerbaijan.
An anti-Olympics video drawing a parallel between scenes of riots and sports competitions was published on July 27 by the X account @NewYorkInsider, a fake news outlet. This 39-second video has been viewed millions of times, clearly intended to harm France’s image.
Investigators also determined that other domain names appear for newyorkinsider, hosted on the same server, including the site orkhanrza.com which promotes Orkhan Rzayev, an Azerbaijani national heading two companies: Eleven Kings and Mediamark Digital. Viginum concluded that the Olimpiya campaign, meaning Olympics in Azerbaijani, “is likely to harm the fundamental interests of the Nation” and they expect potential further campaigns targeting the Olympics.
