The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has filed a lawsuit in Paris regarding counterfeit versions of its covers that are being circulated online. This was reported by the magazine’s lawyer, Richard Malka, and confirmed by the magazine itself. According to Malka, fake covers are appearing online that imitate the style of Charlie Hebdo and shamelessly use the signatures of its artists.
This is reported by Kyiv24
The Nature of the Fakes and Their Possible Purpose
He noted that these forgeries share a common trait: they defame Ukraine, mock the support of Europe and France for President Volodymyr Zelensky, and spread rumors about the gender identity of France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron.
“As of now, we do not know who is behind this, so we have filed a complaint against an unknown person. All these clumsy forgeries have one thing in common: they defame Ukraine, mock the support of Europe and France for President Volodymyr Zelensky, and sometimes spread rumors about the gender identity of France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron. You start to wonder if Putin himself ordered them,”
The Spread of Fakes and Their Possible Goals
According to him, the complaint states that over the past two years, at least 15 fake covers of Charlie Hebdo have been published on Telegram channels and on platform X, accompanied by comments and captions in Russian. The editorial team believes these forgeries are aimed at a Russian audience to create the impression that the publication supports Vladimir Putin. Malka notes that these are well-executed, almost industrial forgeries that have a clearly pro-Russian character.
The editorial team of Charlie Hebdo aims to use legal institutions to “dispel doubts that these manipulations could influence public consciousness.” They hope to find the authors and possibly the sponsors of these propaganda actions.
According to the fact-checking project Provereno, since 2022, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have disseminated at least 70 fake covers of various satirical magazines. Approximately one in three forgeries imitated the style of Charlie Hebdo, indicating a targeted information campaign.