In just a short period of 90 days, fugitive oligarchs Ilan Șor and Veaceslav Platon spent approximately 136,000 euros on Facebook advertising.
Fig. 1 – Comparison of the amounts spent by Ilan Șor and Veaceslav Platon on Facebook advertising for disinformation over a 90-day period.
Main manipulative narratives (ideas) promoted in sponsored posts by Platon and Șor:
- Referendum is useless: the campaign argues that referendum holds no value, manipulating official statements to suggest that the results will have no impact on the EU accession process.
- The government pressures Gagauzia: it is promoted the idea that the central government is unjustly imposing sanctions on the Gagauzia region, thereby undermining local stability.
- The government scares the public with war: it is suggested that authorities exaggerate military risks to gain political advantages, denying the real threats to national security.
- EU accession negotiations are due to Ukraine: this narrative implies that Moldova’s progress in joining the EU is solely a result of the situation in Ukraine, downplaying the importance of the government’s efforts.
- The government accepts any condition imposed by the EU: it is claimed that Moldovan government unconditionally accepts all EU demands to receive European funds, insinuating a lack of sovereignty and discernment in the negotiation process.
The main goal of these sponsored campaigns is to sow panic in society, discredit the European integration process of Moldova, and flatter Russia’s image. At the same time, we observe that Russia is actively preparing for destabilization during the electoral campaign for presidential elections and the referendum on European integration. Unfortunately, the authorities do not have effective mechanisms to combat such disinformation tools. The only solution to counter these falsehoods remains the active informing of society about how these messages circulate in the public space (what? who? why?) and post-fact reporting of the promoted falsehoods.
Neither META nor Google is taking any serious action to block this manipulative content. The two companies should pay attention to the calls from Moldovan authorities and civil society to stop running ads from oligarchs sanctioned internationally. META and Google need to understand that their inaction allows for political influence operations and interference by the Russian Federation in the electoral processes of Moldova.
Read he full report here.