According to BlockBeats, on August 27, Cointelegraph reported that several French government websites were paralyzed by a DDoS attack, which was allegedly related to a Russian hacker group. The affected websites include the Paris Administrative Court, the French Health Department, and the French Supreme Court.
French media Entropia Intel said the attack was believed to be a response to the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France.
On August 26, French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement on Durov's arrest, saying that this was not a political incident. Macron reiterated France's commitment to freedom of speech and expression, while emphasizing that the outcome of Durov's case will be determined by France's independent judicial system, not by France's political institutions.