Buyed votes, false surveys and thousands of publications that contain misinformation. Operating Code Name: Matriochka. According to BBC information, a secret network financed by Russia is trying to interrupt the next elections in Moldova.
This Sunday, September 28, the 2.4 million inhabitants will go to the polls to renew the Parliament. A crucial legislative vote for the future of this ex-Soviet Republic that plans to join the European Union (EU). Except that Russia has decided to put the nose on the ballot.
An infiltrated journalist from the British media reveals that the secret network had promised to pay the Moldavos if they published pro-ruse propaganda and false news that support the ruling party, the action of action and solidarity (PAS), pro -ue.
153 euros per month for false positions
President Maïa Sandu thus denounces an “unprecedented interference” of Kremlin in the elections and accuses him of “pouring hundreds of millions of euros” to buy votes and attack voters misinformation.
The actions of this secret group are multiple. Several molds have been recruited through groups of telegrams to flood social networks, Tiktok and Facebook in mind, with anti-EU propaganda. The activists were trained online by Russian speakers for several months through “seminars” destined to “prepare the agents.” They learned significantly to use chatgpt to create publications, or learned to influence citizens discreetly. The messages had to be satirical, preferably, while they remained “natural”, according to the coaches. The most talented were recruited as trolls paid by Moscow.
According to the BBC survey, agents were paid 3,000 molds (153 euros) per month to share publications when approaching the elections. In the program, patriotic messages and, above all, falsificifications of news. The BBC journalist was invited to write that the current Moldova government planned to falsify the results of the elections, that the potential membership of Moldova in the EU would force Moldova to become Pro-LGBT or that President Maïa Sandu would facilitate the traffic of children.
Some agents also shared false videos thanks to AI. The president of Moldavan is, for example, the goal of a defack, created with Luma AI, in which he plays a Russian song that represents it as an ineffective leader. Other videos say that he suffers from schizophrenia or that his party has “falsified” the elections.
Other recruits have been paid 200 Hour de Moldavia (10 euros) to find supporters of the opposition of Moldova de Prorusse, or influence citizens to carry out a call. All answers were recorded in secret. The results already say that the party instead … lost. What influence the choice upstream of the vote. The survey can also be used by the opposition to dispute the elections in case of Victoria de Pas.
“A Test Field” of misinformation campaigns
This secret network would be linked to the politician that flees Ilan Shor. He had already been sanctioned by the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU for having welded the Moldavos citizens to vote against the EU membership last year. “In 2024, the campaign (of Ilan Shor) focused on money. This year, it is the misinformation that is in the heart of his concerns,” observes the head of the Moldova Police, Viorel Cernauteanu, with the BBC.
In total, the network would be composed of at least 90 Tiktok accounts, some pretending means of information, such as BBC. According to the Forensic Research Digital Laboratory (DfrLAB), thousands of videos have been shared, for a total of more than 55 million visits and 2.2 million “Like” since January. Impressive figures, when you know that Moldova has only 2.4 million inhabitants.
Reset Tech, an NGO that scanned Russian online misinformation since 2022, has also been interested in the English speaking platform called Restmedia that dedicates a quarter of its articles to Moldova. If it is presented as a serious research journalism, it is aligned with the Kremlin propaganda. The majority of pro-ruso content is generated using artificial intelligence, then translated and amplified by sites in other languages of the European Union.
The NGO claims to have identified “obvious technical links with Russia”, thanks to the IP addresses and the metadata of the sites.
In fact, according to experts, these different actions are only an overview of a larger network coordinated by Moscow addressed to Moldova and, more widely, Europe. “The objective is not only to manipulate some votes, but erode confidence in the democratic process,” said Corneliu Bjola, a professor of digital diplomacy at Oxford University, in AFP.
Tiktok said he had implemented additional security measures before the elections and continued to actively fight against deceptive behavior. Goal, Facebook owner, did not respond to BBC requests.
Source: BFM TV
