Another day, another false claim on social media.
Conspiracy theorists are spreading a false and easily debunkable claim that the president of France was caught with a bag of cocaine during a photo-op this weekend.
On Friday, Macron met with the leaders of England and Germany and held a photo-op on a train headed to Ukraine from Poland.
During the photo-op with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Macron was seen moving a white napkin out of view of photographers while the trio posed for a photograph.
Conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely claim that the white napkin was a bag of cocaine and a nearby skewer was a cocaine spoon.
After zooming in on a still picture, zooming in, and using artificial intelligence to enhance the picture, it becomes clear that Macron was moving a napkin, not a bag of cocaine or white powder.
The claims appear to have originated from Russian politician Maria Zakharova on Telegram early Sunday. The claims were later amplified by infamous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Both Zakharova and Jones have a history of spreading false claims. Jones lost his media empire after being successfully sued for defamation in relation to lies he told about the Sandy Hook massacre.
The Russian government has a well-documented history of spreading disinformation, especially regarding its neighbour Ukraine, which it is currently at war with.
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