TikTok video with actor Brian Baumgartner, from the American version Officecalling for the ouster of the president of a petite European country was an early sign that this would not be an ordinary election.
Delayed last year, Baumgartner appeared among a number of American celebrities, turning to Maia Sandu, the current pro-European president of Moldova, and declaring in bad Russian: “We, the Hollywood stars, support the people of Moldova in their desire to overthrow you, Sandu. ” These weren’t deepfakes. Instead, movies – which ones researchers it was suggested that they were part of a pro-Kremlin influence operation – they were authorized on Cameo, an app that allows anyone to buy personalized greetings from the stars. Neither Cameo nor Baumgartner’s representatives responded to WIRED’s request for comment.
For years, Moldova – a country about the size of the US state of Maryland, wedged between the EU and Ukraine – has complained about Russia’s meddling. But recently, as the former Soviet state prepared for a crucial presidential vote and a referendum on EU accession, the country became a cautionary tale about how the world’s largest social media platforms can be used to create and finance a complex disinformation operation and sow discord. around some of the most divisive actors in society.
Since war broke out in neighboring Ukraine two years ago, bots have been scouring the Moldovan internet for authentic content that could reach a wide audience, such as videos showing bad behavior by Ukrainian refugees. Subsequently, ordinary Moldovans complained that their Facebook feeds were being flooded with political, often anti-government ads, displayed by sites with Vietnamese names. A year later, researchers estimated that Meta had made at least $200,000 from a pro-Kremlin advertising campaign aimed exclusively at Moldova. Russia’s foreign ministry did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
“It is unprecedented in terms of complexity,” says Ana Revenco, former interior minister of Moldova, now in charge of the modern Center for Strategic Communications and Countering Disinformation. In her opinion, what is happening in Moldova on Facebook, Telegram, TikTok and YouTube carries a warning to the rest of the world. “It shows us our collective vulnerability,” he says. “Platforms are not only active here. If [Russia] They can use them here, they can use them anywhere.”
Revenco says Russia-linked accounts reached modern levels of aggression ahead of Sunday’s vote. “They activate accounts that were created a long time ago and were on standby,” he explains. “They engage bots and sync posts across multiple platforms.”