French media uncovers backstage manipulator of conspiracy media sites

PARIS - The Falun Gong cult is the manipulator behind-the-scenes of several media sites such as the Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television that have been obsessed with fabricating and spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation, a French media has said.

An article published on the French daily newspaper Le Parisien in late April uncovered the ulterior relationship between the Falun Gong and those conspiracy media sites, warning of the attempts of these "media" emanating from the cult to expand their influence on the public opinion in France.

The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television, both from the Epoch Media Group, "do not quite resemble so-called mainstream media," the article said.

Those media sites "disseminate, via multiple channels on social networks as well as more unofficial platforms, a lot of false information ranging from non-contextualized facts in order to better capture an extremist public, to the most eccentric theories, pouring into conspiracy," it added, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has been used as "an ideal new weapon in their propaganda arsenal against the Chinese government."

The article warned that with the pandemic and the arrival of the presidential election in France, the media group "has an important card to play in terms of influence."

To increase their influence, it "has made itself the mouthpiece for 'alternative facts,' and also for the demands of the conspiratorial far-right," the article noted.