Stephane Bouillon assured lawmakers that the agency would be tasked with flagging online threats coming from abroad, rather than gathering intelligence, correcting information or establishing truth.
"There are countries, organizations that are hostile to France … that exaggerate and spread disinformation … That’s something to work on," Bouillon said in parliament.
The agency will employ 40 to 60 people who will trawl through open sources online for clues on disinformation that could set off an "information pandemic."
The agency will be tested during the German legislative elections in September and an independence referendum in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia in December.
