It is a site that resembles in every way the Parisian ... with the exception of its content. For several weeks, our newspaper has seen its graphic charter copied by the mysterious "leparisien.ltd", which spreads fake news, most often against Ukraine and the West. False information, therefore, sometimes ostensibly conspiracy, which is nevertheless widely shared on social networks.
It is difficult to know since when Le Parisien has been plagiarized. Still, the domain name "leparisien.ltd" was created at the beginning of February. According to our observations, by the end of the month, several articles were published and relayed on social networks, including Twitter. They take the look of ours from a graphic point of view – and also keep the links leading to the real site of Le Parisien – but the title, the photo and the text have nothing to do with our site. This fake media does not itself have a home page.
Articles against the war in Ukraine
The published articles all have in common that they criticize the West, the United States or the war in Ukraine. "Joe Biden is a terrorist: new evidence", "Pigs ate Africans" (it talks about Ukrainian wheat being given to Spanish pigs rather than poor countries in Africa), "War in Europe is no longer necessary. The US Secretary of State talks about new borders for Ukraine", "No conscience, just business: the truth about Zelensky's machinations in buying shells", "The French are depriving themselves of food. But this is not enough for the United States: it demands that the France give more money for the war in Ukraine" are all titles published in recent weeks. Links have been "sponsored" on Facebook in order to be disseminated more widely.
Beyond their title, the content of the articles leaves one wondering as it seeks to divide by spreading false information. "Today, our authorities are spending huge sums to support Ukraine, to the detriment of their own citizens," reads one of these articles filled with false figures, and quoting in passing the president of the Patriotes Florian Philippot. Ukrainian officials "are simply trying to make as much money as possible, taking advantage of every opportunity that arises," another article wrote. "The Ukrainian authorities must be forced to sit down at the negotiating table with the Russians and stop the war," it reads, after a sentence on raising the legal retirement age in France.
The article "A mass exodus to escape military slavery. Ukrainians try to escape imminent death on the front" has been shared hundreds of times in recent days on social networks, including twice on Twitter by the influential Yves Pozzo di Borgo, a former senator with conspiracy tendencies, followed by nearly 100,000 followers. In this content signed "Le Parisien with AFP", it is told how the Ukrainians would avoid mobilization and flee the war. "The appalling losses suffered by the Ukrainian army showed ordinary Ukrainians how slim their chances of returning alive from the front were," it said.
A complaint filed to recover the domain name
It is difficult, therefore, not to see the shadow of Russia, which has been waging an informational war for several years – and even more so since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. However, it is impossible as it stands to trace back to the creator of this fake site. The extension of the domain name ". Ltd" is reserved for "limited liability companies". It is possible for less than twenty euros to buy one. If the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which regulates these domain names, requires confidential information, it is not a priori verified upstream.
Alerted several times in recent weeks, Le Parisien recently filed a UDRP complaint. Company with ICANN, this approach would allow the Parisian – denouncing a usurpation of his brand – to recover the domain name and put an end to this plagiarism. A few months ago, our newspaper had already used this procedure against a fraudulent site using the same methods.