The Russian propaganda departments have attempted to influence the European elections on a large scale via the Internet and Twitter. An analysis by research agency Trollrensics exposed a Russian-linked network ('troll army') that is part of a network of fake accounts that automatically sent all kinds of fake messages.
Trollrensics looked at hundreds of thousands of messages on X (formerly Twitter) sent before and during the European elections. In Germany, at least 10 percent of all tweets about the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) came from Russian accounts. In France, this applied to at least 20 percent of all messages about the right-wing extremist Eric Zémmour.
Organized networks were active in France and Germany, but voters in the Netherlands, Italy and the English-speaking public have also been played by the troll network. This is evident from an independent study commissioned by the group of European Social Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D) and GroenLinks-PvdA.
MEP Thijs Reuten (GroenLinks-PvdA) expressed surprise in response: “This shows that our democracy is vulnerable and that foreign powers are willing to spend a lot of money and effort to sow division. We must better defend ourselves against these attempts of foreign influence. I expect the European Commission and the intelligence services to be on top of this.”
MEP Kim van Sparrentak (GroenLinks-PvdA) said that this report confirms that iedereen can game the algorithms of social media platforms and use them against us.” This is a direct danger to our democracy. We cannot allow the status quo to continue where tech companies determine what you see online based on their profit motive. We must act urgently.”
The research also shows that support for the German party AfD received a significant boost thanks to the troll army. At least 10.7% of the tweets about the AfD came from Russia's disinformation network. The researchers also expect the actual percentage to be significantly higher in the case of Germany.
Two years ago, after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, the European Union took a closer look at Russian propaganda activities. A start has also been made on taking Russian (state) propaganda channels off the air. Some European journalist unions believe that this is censorship and that the EU authorities should not take action against it. In addition, an investigation has already been initiated within the EU into Russian bribery among EU politicians and officials.