"Charlie Hebdo has filed a complaint against X for some fifteen false covers that use the newspaper's graphic codes and are designed to make it appear that we are in favour of Putin's policies. These covers imitate our satirical style and may mislead the unwary reader. This is why Charlie is taking legal action: to defend its image and values, and to dispel any doubts that these manipulations may raise in public opinion."
The editorial staff
With this message on its X account, the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has announced that it will sue Elon Musk's social network, but the lawsuit is not only against this network.
According to Le Monde, Charlie Hebdo filed a complaint on Monday 26 May against an unknown person for the dissemination of fake covers on social networks, which the magazine claims are mainly circulating on Telegram and X, and the most recent ones are "accompanied by captions or comments written in Russian".
Radio France International (RFI) reports, according to statements by the magazine's lawyer, that they suspect a disinformation campaign of"pro-Russian propaganda" and that the complaint for the crime of forgery has been filed with the Paris court, with the aim of "at least identifying the perpetrators" and perhaps the instigators or "sponsors of this propaganda".
Charlie Hebdo considers that, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, "the Russian power uses all media to influence and deceive public opinion in Europe" and that with this denunciation they intend to "defend their image and their values" and "dispel the doubts that these manipulations could generate in public opinion".
Charlie Hebdo covers manipulated to try to sneak in messages of all kinds have been circulating on the internet for years. They are usually very manipulations, but even so they tend to be widely circulated.
It is common to find these fake covers as the vast majority of those who share them do not stop for a second to check if they are real, and they are often spread with the issue number blurred or distorted to make it difficult for those interested in checking their veracity to do so.
Before disseminating a Charlie Hebdo cover, the best thing to do is to go to their website, where they usually have all their covers, and look it up to confirm that it is real. As a generic suggestion, for this or any other publication, when in doubt, the best thing to do is not to share any supposed cover you find out there.
Related: Fake 'Charlie Hebdo' cover shows Zelenski profiting from Pope's death
