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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Tom Ambrose

French anti-vaxxers buying fake Covid passes online

The Meta logo on a smartphone with a Telegram icon in the background.
People are being redirected from Instagram and Facebook to Telegram where passes can be bought discreetly. Photograph: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Anti-vaxxers in France are buying fake vaccine passes online to get around the country’s Covid restrictions, which are often promoted on mainstream social media platforms, research has revealed.

Many buying the forgeries, which can be used across the European Union (EU), are being redirected from websites such as Instagram and Facebook to the Telegram encrypted messenger where they can be bought discreetly, according to a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).

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