Minister Delegate to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Eleonore Caroit is spearheading the French government’s call for more transparency to actively fight disinformation. A French-Dominican national, Caroit grew up in the Dominican Republic, daughter of Jean Michel Caroit, the long standing Le Monde correspondent.
Eleonore Caroit today is responsible for Francophonie, International Partnerships, and French Nationals Abroad in the French government. In this capacity, she continues her commitment to promoting France’s global influence, the French language, and international cooperation.
In an interview with Julian E. Barnes for The New York Times, Caroit explained the Macron government’s approach to countering foreign malign influence campaigns. She said this centers on the belief that a government can actively fight disinformation while simultaneously protecting freedom of speech by promoting transparency and media literacy.
Here are the key points made by Eleonore Caroit:
Disinformation as a major threat to national security. She stated that fighting disinformation is a topic France has “invested a lot in recent years” because it has become clear that it is “one of the major threats that we’re facing in terms of national security sovereignty.”
She considers defending the information space to be “at the very core of democracy,” noting its impact on elections, citizens’ perception of institutions, and trust in their representatives, especially for younger generations.
Caroit emphasized that the French government’s efforts are not about suppressing any speech. Instead, they aim to ensure that citizens “understand the difference between fact and opinion” and know the source of their information.
She summarized this by saying, “We’re not preventing anyone from stating an opinion, but we just want to ensure that people know the source of the information that they’re getting.”
Defending the information space, Ms. Caroit said, is “at the very core of democracy. “It has an impact on elections,” she said.
“It has an impact on how citizens see their institutions, trust their representatives, and it is of the utmost importance in particular for younger generations,” she states.
She emphasized the importance of efforts in elementary schools to help children become better at determining the origin of information. This focus is critical because she noted that “70 percent of our youth are using social networks for their primary, if not only, source of information.”
She is critical of manipulation of facts by foreign powers.
Caroit acknowledged the newly divergent French and US approaches to countering disinformation. She maintained that allies can take different paths, saying, “With your friends and allies, you’re able to say where you disagree or take a different approach.”
“We’re not preventing anyone from stating an opinion, but we just want to ensure that people know the source of the information that they’re getting,” Caroit emphasizes in the interview with The New York Times.
The statements of Caroit coincide with recent remarks on findings by Gallup and the media.
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New York Times
Editor and Publisher
18 November 2025