BRUSSELS, Belgium: France, Germany and Poland have become 鈥減ermanent鈥� targets for Russian disinformation attacks in the run-up to European Parliament elections this week, a senior EU official said Tuesday.
The European Union has repeatedly warned heading toward the June 6-9 vote that Russia would ramp up disinformation campaigns in the 27-country bloc.
鈥淭here are three big countries under permanent attack (from Russia). And it鈥檚 France, it鈥檚 Germany, and it鈥檚 Poland,鈥� said EU commissioner Vera Jourova, pointing to work by the European Digital Media Observatory, of which AFP is part.
There are 鈥渕ore massive disinformation attacks on specific topics,鈥� said Jourova, the commissioner for values and transparency. For example, in France they are focused on this summer鈥檚 Olympic Games in Paris.
In Germany, she said, they exploit concerns over migration and security, while in Poland, a narrative has appeared online that Ukrainian refugees are a 鈥渂urden.鈥�
She pointed to a false story on the Polish state news agency last week stating that Poles would be mobilized to fight in Ukraine, which authorities said was likely a Russian cyberattack.
鈥淩ussian propaganda is done with... very good knowledge of which country has some sensitivities, which country can absorb better the narratives,鈥� Jourova said.
The propaganda was also spread through the Telegram messaging app in countries such as Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Baltic states, she said.
Telegram does not have to comply with the strictest rules for 鈥渧ery large鈥� platforms with at least 45 million monthly active users under the EU鈥檚 landmark content moderation law, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA).
鈥淭elegram is not under our competence yet, but we are now counting the users of Telegram because they announced to us that (they) have 42 million users,鈥� she said.
Jourova was speaking to journalists in Brussels after a visit to the United States to meet with executives of the world鈥檚 biggest tech companies, including X and YouTube.
She said she urged 鈥渕aximum vigilance in these last days,鈥� warning the risk remained.
She said she also reminded the companies of their stringent obligations under the DSA.
Jourova鈥檚 comments come a day after similar findings by Microsoft in a new report.
The US tech giant鈥檚 Threat Analysis Center said Russia was waging an intense disinformation campaign aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the International Olympic Committee and stoking fears of violence at the Games.
Microsoft President Brad Smith, who was in Brussels to meet EU officials including Jourova, echoed her concerns about Russian influence operations.
鈥淭he number one abusive AI case that people are worried about is the risk of deepfakes influencing elections, especially deepfakes that come from foreign governments,鈥� Smith said,
鈥淎nd we鈥檝e definitely seen the Russian government investing in that capability.鈥�