On March 9, an opinion poll conducted by the Center for Sociological Research and Marketing “CBS-Research”, commissioned by the Community for Advocacy and Public Policy “WatchDog.MD”, was made public.
The survey includes multiple questions that address the impact of disinformation and propaganda on public opinion in the Republic of Moldova. In particular, there is still a very high impact of Kremlin propaganda on topics such as security, Russian aggression in Ukraine, international relations and energy issues. Compared to the previous similar survey, small improvements can be noted on several topics targeted by disinformation campaigns. For example, the number of those who said that Moldova should support Russian aggression against Ukraine in exchange for cheaper gas fell from 14% to 11%. At the same time, despite intense discussions over the last month, the number of those who believe that the Russian Federation is a threat to our country increased by only 1% (from 41% to 42%).
The survey also contains a block on citizens’ political preferences – level of trust in political leaders and voting preferences for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. We note that there is still a high level of support for membership of the European Union as opposed to the Eurasian Union.
The event was organized in the framework of the project “Assessing the impact of disinformation and toxic propaganda on public opinion in the Republic of Moldova“, implemented by the “WatchDog.MD” Community with the financial support of the European Union through Internews.
The project involves conducting research and 4 opinion polls between January and May 2023 and other analyses on the impact of disinformation and manipulation and toxic propaganda on public opinion in the Republic of Moldova. In the framework of the project, experts provide recommendations to relevant actors for effectively combating disinformation. The survey, conducted using the CATI (telephone interview moderated interviewer interview) method, was carried out by the Centre for Sociological and Marketing Research “CBS-Research” from 24 February to 3 March 2023 on a stratified sample of 1100 people aged 18 and over. The sample is representative of the adult population of the Republic of Moldova, with a maximum error of +3.1%. The questionnaire was available in Romanian and Russian and respondents were given the opportunity to choose the appropriate version.