How a Russian-Funded Fake News Network Aims to Disrupt Moldova's Election

Russian Interference in Moldova's Election

• 🇷🇴 Moldovan state intelligence accuses Russia of spending record sums in an attempt to fix the election outcome.
• 💰 Citizens were reportedly paid to protest against joining the EU, with illegal payments organized by Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shaw, now living in exile in Moscow.
• ⚠️ The authorities have called Shaw's offer of payment blatant election interference.

Infiltration of a Fake News Network

• 🕵️ BBC Eye Investigations reporter Anna went undercover to infiltrate a fake news network operating via a private, invitation-only Telegram channel called "Electoral Hackathon."
• 💻 Recruits received online lectures on how to be paid to influence elections while posing as ordinary members of the public.
• 🗣️ Alina Zuk, identified as a leader in Ilan Shaw's campaign group, organized Anna's tasks, including conducting street opinion polls.

Disinformation Tactics and Funding

• 📊 Recruits were instructed to conduct polls using a questionnaire that contained known falsehoods about the current government, under the guise of a non-existent entity.
• 📱 Anna was offered a monthly payment of £130 to create social media profiles and post daily content on Facebook, with confirmation of payment from a PSB Bank in Moscow.
• 🤥 Many of the social media requests contained outright lies aimed at talking down the current government or supporting paid protests.

Network Setbacks and Pivots

• 🚫 Just as the election campaign began, Moldova's electoral commission blocked four parties from running, suspending Victoria Fortuna, a candidate linked to Shaw's party.
• 🔄 Alina and her backers pivoted, placing their support behind a new group of socialist MPs, with Anna's group now polling for the "new patriotic block."

Scale of Disinformation and Impact

• 🌐 Identified TikTok accounts, appearing to be part of the same digital brigade, posted identical messages on the same days Anna was instructed to, receiving over 23 million views and 860,000 likes.
• 📢 Alina revealed her group was one brigade in a much larger digital army, all with the same marching orders, and requested more cash from Russia.
• ⚖️ Alina suggested that if the election didn't go their way, the network would use its illegal polling to claim the vote was rigged.
• 📉 The damage from this tidal wave of disinformation will be felt for years to come, regardless of the election outcome.