Online disinformation intensifies ahead of Moldovan parliamentary elections

Online disinformation aimed at discrediting Moldova's pro-European government is ramping up ahead of crunch parliamentary elections on 28 September. 

Moldovan President Maia Sandu and her Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) are hoping to cling onto power and keep Moldova — which is flanked by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the east — on its path towards European Union (EU) membership.

But ballots in the country have traditionally been the target of intense disinformation and destabilisation campaigns, including vote-buying and bribery schemes.

It means Moldova has been caught in the crossfire of an information war pitting EU membership against closer alignment with Russia. Pro-Europeans fear the Kremlin's hybrid warfare techniques could skew the vote.

This threat is perhaps best embodied by fugitive pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, known for spearheading the Kremlin's covert operations in Moldova. In August, Moldova's Supreme Court upheld a ban on his political bloc from running in the September vote.

In late August, a visit by the leaders of France, Germany and Poland aimed to show support for the country's bid to join the EU and warn of Russian attempts to destabilise the country.

"Kremlin propaganda tells us that Europeans want to prolong the war (in Ukraine) and that the European Union oppresses peoples. These are lies," President Macron said in a speech in the capital, Chișinău.

"Unlike Russia, the European Union threatens no one and respects the sovereignty of all," he added.

Less than four weeks before the parliamentary ballot, there are signs that online disinformation is gathering pace.

AI deepfakes and cloned websites

EuroVerify has identified several TikTok videos spreading claims that Moldova is being subjugated to NATO and EU allies and that only defeat for the ruling PAS party can "liberate" the country.

Some of the videos use AI deepfakes of President Maia Sandu and fabricated images of protesters holding signs such as "We're tired of lies and lawlessness!" and "No to EU!".

Journalists at The Insider, an independent outlet focused on Russia, say a known Russian disinformation operation known as Matryoska is behind new deepfakes of Maia Sandu, and that these have been created using Luma AI, an American company.

Sandu has been the target of many such smear campaigns, which also use cloned websites impersonating known media outlets to plant fake news.

Most recently, in late July and early August, a cloned version of okmagazine.us was used to falsely claim that President Sandu had purchased sperm from gay celebrities to conceive a child.

The fake, designed to go viral, aimed at undermining Sandu by appealing to prejudices around gender and sexuality.

False claims about NATO and the war in Ukraine

Our team also identified disinformation framing the September vote as a choice between military neutrality and war with Russia.

These narratives allege that a victory for pro-EU forces would drag Moldova into a long-term conflict and bring about the same fate as Ukraine's.

The theories are being peddled by Kremlin-friendly Telegram groups, before being amplified on platforms such as TikTok.

One TikTok video analysed by our team claims that if Sandu's PAS party "remains in power", the country will find itself "in the same situation as Ukraine".

"Sandu and PAS are not leading the country towards peace, but towards a foreign conflict, turning the elections into a referendum, for neutrality or for involvement in the war," the video claims.

Another widely-circulating falsehood claims that Sandu is preparing to deploy as many as 800 foreign troops from the NATO alliance in the days running up to the vote.

The NATO troops would support the PAS party in repressing any protests around the time of the elections, according to the unfounded claims.

"If the opposition gains the majority, Sandu, according to information, will not recognise the results, accusing Russia of involvement," one video claims. "The massive discontent of citizens will turn into protests, which will be repressed by special police troops, led by foreign instructors."

But these allegations have been firmly denied by the Moldovan Ministry of Defence, which told Moldovan factcheckers and Mediacritica that the "news is fake".

"The purpose of these actions is to spread fear, undermine trust in state institutions and destabilise society in the pre-election period. We urge citizens to obtain information only from official and credible sources and to avoid content distributed by channels, sites and pages that promote panic and division," the ministry said.

Allegations of electoral fraud

Another predominant narrative circulating online is that the September ballot will be intentionally rigged in favour of President Sandu's party.

Some analysts have attributed these claims to Storm-1516, a pro-Russian disinformation campaign first identified in December 2024 by US academics, known to be responsible for viral hoaxes targeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In one post circulating on X, an AI-generated video shows a purported electoral worker claiming she is being "forced to intervene in the upcoming elections" under a "direct order from the government and Maia Sandu."

The video shows pre-printed ballots with votes already marked for Sandu's PAS party.

Other TikTok videos claim, without evidence, that the ruling party is fraudulently using diaspora votes to skew the ballot in its favour.

One video correctly claims that the number of voting stations for Moldovans in Europe will be increased in 2025, but alleges without evidence that "it is through these European polling stations, with controlled commissions, that the election rigging is planned."