2017 Macron e-mail leaks

French campaign posters before the May 2017 election
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Two days before the final vote in the 2017 French presidential elections, more than 20,000 e-mails related to the campaign of Emmanuel Macron were published on the internet. The leaks, dubbed MacronLeaks, garnered an abundance of media attention due to how quickly news of the leak spread throughout the Internet, aided in large part by bots and spammers[1] and drew accusations that the government of Russia under Vladimir Putin was responsible. The e-mails were shared by WikiLeaks and several American alt-right activists[2] through social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and 4chan.[3]

Originally posted on a filesharing site called PasteBin, the e-mails had little to no effect on the final vote as they were dumped just hours before a 44-hour media blackout that is legally required by French electoral law.[4]

The campaign said the e-mails had been "fraudulently obtained" and that false documents were mingled with genuine ones in order "to create confusion and misinformation."[5][6] Numerama, an online publication focusing on digital life, described the leaked material as "utterly mundane", consisting of "the contents of a hard drive and several emails of co-workers and En Marche political officials."[7] United States Senator from Virginia, Mark Warner cited the e-mail leak as a reinforcement of the cause behind the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Nonetheless, the Russian government denied all allegations of foreign electoral intervention.[8]

  1. ^ CNBC (7 May 2017). "US far-right activists, WikiLeaks and Twitter bots help amplify Macron email leaks, researchers say". CNBC. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. ^ Scott, Mark (6 May 2017). "U.S. Far-Right Activists Promote Hacking Attack Against Macron". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. ^ Brandom, Russell (5 May 2017). "Emails leaked in 'massive hacking attack' on French presidential campaign". The Verge. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. ^ Almasy, Steve (6 May 2017). "France: Emmanuel Macron's presidential campaign hacked". CNN. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  5. ^ "French watchdog: Macron data mixed in with fake news in leak". Fox News. Associated Press. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Emmanuel Macron Fast Facts". CNN. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Macron's emails got hacked. Here's why French voters won't hear much about them before Sunday's election". The Washington Post. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Macron blasts 'massive' hacking attack". BBC News. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.