Russia Sought to Use Social Media to Influence E.U. Vote, Report Finds

6/14/19
LONDON — European authorities blamed Russian groups on Friday for disinformation campaigns designed to depress turnout and sway public opinion in last month’s European Union elections, an official accounting that underscored how Russian interference has not abated and that Facebook and other tech platforms remain vulnerable to meddling. The preliminary review by the European Commission and the bloc’s foreign policy and security arm found that Russian-linked groups and other non-state actors had worked to undermine credibility in the European Union through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Officials said new regulations might be needed to force internet platforms to do more to stop the spread of deliberately false information. “The evidence collected revealed a continued and sustained disinformation activity by Russian sources aiming to suppress turnout and influence voter preferences,” the report said. The report was the first official substantiation by the European Commission of the role that Russians and other groups played in disinformation in the May elections, which many investigators, academics and advocacy groups had warned about. It was a reminder of how active Russians and others continue to be in spreading divisive content online to inflame and stoke electorates all over the world, a strategy that the Kremlin had pioneered in the 2016 American presidential election.

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Rogue Valley said:

Russia Sought to Use Social Media to Influence E.U. Vote, Report Finds

The European elections were targeted by Russia, Brussels has said.

Voters in last month’s European Union parliamentary elections.



Moscow is intent on meddling-in and distorting all elections held in Western democracies.

Last week it was revealed (while EU High Representative Federica Mogherini was visiting Lavrov) that Russia hacked the EU Embassy in Moscow. This was discovered in April, just weeks before the European Parliament elections.

Related: Russian bots tried to influence EU elections, says Brussels

The EU’s Embassy In Russia Was Hacked But The EU Kept It A Secret

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