The Polish Ministry of Digitalization has reported a recent increase in disinformation related to the presidential election.
According to PAP, Monika Gębicka from the Communications Department of the Ministry of Digitalization noted that one of the signs of the phenomenon was “a disinformation operation, probably carried out by the Russian side in the English-speaking information space.”
Magdalena Wilczynska, Director of the Cyberspace Information Protection Department at the National Research Institute “Scientific and Academic Computer Network” (NASK), said that NASK has developed a map of disinformation topics about the elections.
Wilczynska also drew attention to conspiracy theories that can cause citizens to lose trust in the electoral process.
“Narratives about voting by people who do not have the right to vote may appear,” she added.
In addition, NASK predicts the emergence of fake materials related to the European Union and interference in the Polish elections by other countries.
The Alliance4Europe organization’s report reveals the use of the X platform as a disinformation spreading tool. Between March 4 and April 4 of this year, almost 300 posts with information about the Polish elections appeared on this platform.
As explained by Aleksandra Wojtowicz, an analyst and co-author of the Alliance4Europe report, the authors of disinformation posts added links to articles published on Polish news portals to increase the credibility of their false claims.
Wojtowicz noted that the creators of disinformation assume that users will not click on the links or read the full texts.
People often use old articles or screenshots that lack full context. Some Polish media outlets make it easier for disinformation agents by wording headlines and introductions in such a way that they are disconnected from the rest of the text, which potentially does not contain falsehoods.
The Alliance4Europe report emphasizes that a further goal is to undermine the authority of political opponents by spreading fake news that discredits them. It says that another goal of disinformation campaigns is to boost Kremlin propaganda.
The authors of disinformation posts, to increase the credibility of their false claims, added links to articles published on Polish news portals: nczas.com, wpolityce.pl, bankier.pl, fakt.pl, fronda.pl, gazetaprawna.pl, money.pl, polsatnews.pl, rp.pl, salon24.pl, tvp.info, wnp.pl, and interia.pl.
The presidential elections in Poland will be held on May 18, with a possible second round on June 1.
Read also our research: Top 10 news websites spreading Russian propaganda in Poland
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