Registered in Barcelona and managed by Franco-Tunisian businessman Lotfi Bel Hadj, the communications agency Digital Big Brother (DBB) finds itself at the crossroads of several legal cases. That on suspicions of foreign interference in the French media and political landscape is now added to that of the so-called “barbouzeries du Paris Saint-Germain” (PSG) affair.
A jack-of-all-trades lobbyist, Jean-Pierre Duthion, a central figure in the investigation into suspicions of foreign interference, was in fact, according to information from the World and of Radio France, the recipient of large payments, amounting to at least 25,000 euros, from DBB. He was indicted in October 2023 for corruption and influence peddling as part of a judicial investigation opened by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
It was in October 2022 that the name of DBB first came out of the shadows, when Mediapart revealed the central role played by this communications agency in the context of the “barbouzeries” affair. From 2018 to 2020, UReputation, a subsidiary of DBB, was mandated by the management of PSG to design and run a “digital army”, through fake accounts on the social network Twitter (now X) as part of an online slander campaign.
Why did Mr. Duthion receive money from DBB? Did he also play a role in the PSG “digital army” aspect? “Some of the facts are now recognized [par son client]brushes off his lawyer, Robin Binsard, without answering the question precisely. He will assume his responsibility before the court and, for the rest, we leave to the judicial authorities the first of any declaration. »
“Defend the club”
Another source suggests, for its part, that Mr. Duthion’s work for the agency was restricted to marketing operations unrelated to PSG. Contacted, Mr. Bel Hadj’s lawyer did not wish to comment. According to our information, Jean-Pierre Duthion introduced himself to several media outlets as the lobbyist in charge of DBB’s communications, in the fall of 2022, after the first revelations about PSG’s “digital army”.
The club’s former communications director (2017-2022) Jean-Martial Ribes claimed in police custody, in November 2023, that he did not know Mr. Duthion, and explained to investigators that DBB had been mandated by management of the club for “counter the information” of the account of the collective of Paris United supporters on Twitter, and to identify their members. According to Mr. Ribes, indicted in particular for “online moral harassment”, the DBB agency “was advised” at the club by former Olympic champion Djamel Bouras, head of the PSG judo section, a ” friend ” by Mr. Bel Hadj. When asked, Mr. Bouras did not respond on this point.
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