An Awakened France
As France expels a Russian propagandist and tightens social media controls, it joins Estonia in shedding light on how foreign influence operations are not journalism but matters of national security
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In the past 18 months, I’ve traveled to many countries and observed how each is faced with daily electronic lobotomies, courtesy of Russia and now the US.
Deriving inspiration from Victor Rud, who uses words like “mangled” and “lobotomy” when writing about the constant churn of information chaos, I continue my quest for better words to describe the well-funded attempts to sabotage any memory of what came the day before, therefore obscuring where the threads of truth may lie. This information chaos is then maestroed by the Usual Suspects — the billionaires and traitors in every country, who get their talking points in Russian and English, with their morning shot of whatever substance enables them to blithely commit treason.
So it pleases me greatly that France is experiencing an awakening of sorts, as it makes positive steps to thwart these daily electronic lobotomies of information chaos.
France Expels Russian Propagandist
After much public pressure by independent journalists and pro-democracy activists, on July 29, France ordered the expulsion of Russian propagandist Xenia Fedorova, former head of France’s division of Russian-state media, RT, which was banned in France in 2022. RT has been linked to Russian military intelligence.
Today, a French court rejected her appeal and upheld the order to leave.
French authorities accused her of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda to “undermine the fundamental interests of the nation,” and last week, the 45-year-old received an “emergency order” to leave France and her assets were frozen for six months.
This decision revokes her 10-year residency permit and bars her from working in France.
Despite the banning of RT, Fedorova was hired as a commentator for outlets owned by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, including CNews television channel, France’s equivalent of Fox News. Bolloré has been compared to a Rupert Murdoch-type figure and his media network has been repeatedly identified as pushing pro-Russian content. Fedorova was hired in advance of France’s upcoming presidential election in 2027, and Bollore’s networks advocate and normalize the extremist party of convicted embezzler Marine Le Pen, a French politician who received Russian-funding and whose father formed the National Front in 1972 with Nazi collaborators.
Although Fedorova, whose real name is Ksenia Borchik, has claimed she is being denied free speech, French authorities call the order for her to leave “thoroughly justified.”
“(The order) refers to numerous statements she has made which systematically repeat Kremlin propaganda regarding France’s involvement, what is happening in Ukraine, and the reasons and motivations behind Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told French media.
Geopolitical analyst Joni Askola, who lives in Finland and France, told Bette Dangerous: “When RT France was finally sanctioned by the EU and taken off the air, Vincent Bolloré stepped in and filled the gap with something even worse. Instead of letting Russian state media disappear from the French information space, he brought in Xenia Fedorova, the former head of RT France, and gave her a direct platform across his channels. She continued pushing the same Kremlin narratives she had been broadcasting before the ban, and she gained enough influence to shape editorial lines and even decide who gets fired. If the rumors about their relationship ever turn out to be true, it would be one of the most successful honeytrap stories Europe has seen in years.”
Whether or not rumors of honey potting are ultimately proven, Fedorova appears right out of central casting — if you’re casting red sparrows. Like Maria Butina, Anna Chapman, and Masha Drokova — the girl who kissed Putin and wound up working for Jeffrey Epstein — Fedorova has a pleasant face and a soft voice, perfect for making Russian propaganda go down easy.
“What happened on these platforms was not a debate between pro‑Ukraine and pro‑Russia voices,” said Askola, who along with his brother, supports Ukraine through fundraisers to help deliver vehicles and first aid. “It was pure, unchallenged Russian state disinformation delivered by a Russian citizen whose entire career is built on serving her state’s information strategy. Once RT was shut down, she should never have been allowed to stay in France. Freedom of speech protects citizens expressing controversial or even traitorous opinions, but it does not cover state‑sponsored propaganda aimed at destabilizing a country. There is a clear difference between an average French person having a misguided, traitorous pro‑Russian opinion and a state envoy pushing official disinformation in a country her own government claims to be at war with.”
RT was banned in France after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Fedorova used the time to write a book titled, Banned.
In America in 2024, we learned six important words that most chose to ignore but not me: “Covert influence activists are not journalism.”
“Deporting Fedorova is a necessary first step (but) Bolloré will not stop promoting Russian narratives just because she is gone, and he is far from the only one doing it. France has a long road ahead in dealing with Russian state disinformation coming from other platforms like Sud Radio and Omerta.”
But like Estonia, which prosecuted and convicted a pro-Russian journalist and blogger, both with links to Russian security services, France — by ordering the expulsion of Fedorova — sent a message that these types of foreign influence activities should not be confused with journalism.
In addition to Fedorova’s order to leave, France just became the first EU country to ban children under the age of 15 from social media access. In July, French parliament approved the bill, backed by President Emmanuel Macron, who said: “France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers.”
With now decades of warnings over the harmful effects on children, France took the warnings seriously.
Just like it’s taking threats from propagandists seriously. And taking its digital sovereignty seriously.
As French elections approach, subthreshold attacks will escalate.
May France’s resolve continue.
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