DISINFO: The French Government presents the migrant youth as its “scapegoat” covering the failure to cope with the epidemic
SUMMARY
In order to understand the so-called “riots”, it is necessary to look at the medieval history of Europe, where epidemics always resulted in a search for a scapegoat and usual pogroms against Jews. It is probably a tradition for the European authorities to blame others for their failure to cope with epidemics. This time, all other countries are handling the Coronavirus situation better than France. That is why it is important to find a scapegoat, which will be blamed for the catastrophic statistics. From the very beginning of the quarantine, the working districts of Paris and other large French cities have become this “scapegoat”. Without any exaggeration, this narrative has a racist character – the media regularly attack the African youths accusing them of disrespecting the quarantine. This narrative is imposed by the French Government on purpose – the French middle class eagerly supports it.
RESPONSE
The message that the French Government purposefully presents migrant youths as its “scapegoat” covering the alleged failure to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic is a conspiracy theory. The ongoing protests in the northern suburbs of Paris are caused by several complex reasons such as the challenging socio-economic situation of migrants and minorities, contradictions with police and social inequality. See other disinformation cases linked to Yellow Vests protests in France. The analysis of the Russian disinformation media's non-stop coverage of Yellow vests and also of the manipulated social media discussions is presented here.