France’s September 10 shutdown: Grassroots anger or foreign amplification?

A protest call that began in obscure Telegram channels is now threatening to upend French politics. What started as a fringe campaign against austerity measures is being amplified across social networks, embraced by political parties, and even compared to the Yellow Vests movement. But behind the viral surge, analysts warn of digital manipulation and potential foreign interference.

An investigation by Euronews traces how the movement known as “Bloquons tout” (“Let’s blockade everything”) spread from online anonymity to the political mainstream — and how murky forces may be fueling its momentum.

The campaign’s roots lie in a May Telegram post by Les Essentiels France, a new self-described citizen group spreading anti-government messages. Its May 21 post declared: “On 10 September 2025, France will grind to a standstill: no more resignation, no more division.”

While the group claims to be apolitical, observers and French media have linked it to conspiracist and far-right circles. Their social media content ranges from calls for France’s exit from the EU to warnings, relayed from Russia’s State Duma, that involvement in Ukraine could spark a “third world war.”

Momentum surged after Prime Minister François Bayrou unveiled sweeping budget cuts on July 15, which included scrapping public holidays and freezing pensions. According to social listening firm Visibrain, online posts spiked to around 30,000 per day. A website, new social accounts, and regional groups soon formalised the movement.

Yet, Visibrain analysts also identified signs of astroturfing: bots posing as young French women flooding platforms like X with pro-Kremlin and anti-Ukraine content.

French digital intelligence group Projet Fox described the campaign as “really a network of bots, potentially controlled by a foreign entity, intended to amplify social divisions in France.” They point to synchronized accounts, identical posts, and English-language comment farming as evidence.

Despite the dubious digital origins, the campaign has broken into the mainstream. Left-wing parties such as France Unbowed (LFI), the Ecologists, and the Communists back the protests, with factions of the Socialist Party also supporting them.

Trade unions remain split, though the powerful CGT has endorsed the shutdown. High-profile figures like Jean-Luc Mélenchon have given the campaign legitimacy, allowing it to transcend left-right divisions and echo the broad, populist anger of the Yellow Vests.

Euronews notes that the movement has now attracted support from across the political spectrum, from the “radical and anti-capitalist left” to the “sovereignist and identity-based right,” along with former Yellow Vest activists.

Whether the September 10 call will paralyse France remains to be seen — but the convergence of grassroots grievances, partisan politics, and suspected foreign meddling ensures that this moment will test both Bayrou’s embattled government and France’s social cohesion, the article notes.

By Sabina Mammadli