Satire
According to an article in Nordpresse, the French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy says he will leave France if Jean-Luc Mélenchon is elected President. This report was taken seriously and shared by many internet users unaware that the site is satirical. The title of the article is a parody of the daily newspaper Sudpresse.
The philosopher never said such a thing. He did however take position against the leader of the movement ‘La France Insoumise’ (Unsubmissive France), including saying in an article published in Point where he calls Mélenchon a “worker of bad wonders”. Levy has come out in favor of Emmanuel Macron for the forthcoming election.
The satirical news site Nordpresse misleads its readers by displaying a different url for its publications on social networks. Indeed, web users are frequently led to believe that they are sharing information emanating from a “serious” website.
In the main body of the article, Nordpresse goes even further by referencing the intellectual’s support of France’s military intervention in Libya in 2011: “Bernard Henry Lévy [sic] hasn’t mentioned where he would seek refuge but Libya is probably his most likely choice since, thanks to him, the country is at peace even though he also has many good contacts across all of the Middle East.”
A study of the links at the bottom of the page leaves no doubt as to the satirical nature of Nordpresse. One of them is titled: “Bernard Henri Lévy confirms having downed a DAESH plane by “hypnotizing the pilot”.
