On election Eve, EU says Russia is spreading disinformation

European governments say Russia is spreading disinformations before the European Union holds the European Parliament elections from June 6th to 9th.

They say Moscow's actions and pro-Cremlin actors are part of a broader intervention campaign designed to discredit European governments and destabilise the EU.

Moscow, on the other hand, rejects the charges.

What does the alleged Russian intervention look like?

The accusations of Russia's intervention in EU issues, on the eve of elections, include dezinformation or manipulation of the truth, experts say.

According to them, this is done from the confirmation of the already existing conspiracy theories to the publication of counterfeit videos and lies on the pages of the doppelganger designed to appear identical to the true pages.

The Czech Republic said the web site viqueofoepe. com has led a project influence operation in Europe. A Ukrainian politician and businessman, but pro-rus, identified as Viktor Medvedchuk, has secretly financed the site's influence operations.

Belgium, on the other hand, said Russian officials have paid European Parliament lawmakers to promote Russian propaganda in Europe.

How does Russia respond to accusations of interference?

Russia denies spreading dezinforms. She says the West is involved in a full-scale information fight involving false claims designed to destroy Russia's reputation and present it as an enemy.

Russian officials say the West has become so untolerant that it refuses to accept any view that conflicts with the dominant tertiary and has banned the broadcast of several Russian state media, such as RIA Novosti news agency and Izvestia and Rossiya newspaper.

What are the fake websites and the dopppelganger?

False websites, or "deepfaces," are synthetic media, in which one person in an existing photograph or video is replaced by someone else using artificial intelligence techniques. The Deepfakes may seem very real, leading to the spread of deninforms and propaganda.

In the elections in Slovakia in 2023, a recording of Milchal Simeckas, the leader of Slovakia's Progressive Party, appeared, apparently discussing vote manipulation. The record was fake.

"Doppelganger" is the name attributed to a dezinformomi campaign, which includes the creation of fake websites, which look much like the view of existing news sources.

Targeted websites include daily newspapers Le Figaro and Die Welt, as well as those of the French Foreign Ministry and the German Interior Ministry.

An article on a cloned website of the French Foreign Ministry claimed that France was preparing a tax to assist Ukraine's combat efforts. About 200 Facebook accounts were created for the distribution of this information, writes Radio Free Europe.

What do EU leaders say about the alleged Russian intervention?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyeen said Europe faces a severe choice: be strong or be subject to authoritarians.

Would we want a strong Europe, fighting for our values and democracy? Or will we allow our democracies to be kidnapped by authoritarian puppets?

How does the EU regulate social media?

The new EU Digital Services Law requires quick removal of illegal content and more information on how content is created.

Platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, have taken measures by creating teams to fight dezination, artificial intelligence abuse and secret influence on the European Parliament elections.

In April, the European Commission, which is the executive wing of the EU, has launched investigations of Facebook and Instagram, due to concerns that they have not done enough to fight dezination.