The Czech parliamentary elections are accompanied by an unprecedented wave of Russian propaganda. According to Voxpot analyzes, disinformation sites today produce more content than the largest Czech media.
The upcoming parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic take place in the shadow of a massive Russian propaganda campaign.
The Czech investigative portal in cooperation with the Druit technology team described its scope as historically unprecedented. Their data analysis has shown that disinformation sites operating in the Czech Republic today produce more content than the largest domestic media houses.
Objective: to undermine confidence in the EU and NATO
Research is based on the processing of 360,000 articles from the 25-year history of the sixteen largest disinformation platforms. Every day approximately one -tenth of all published texts comes directly from the Russian state media. These are either their literal translations or articles that do not critically quote these sources. This means that the Czech information space is systematically flooded with narratives directly managed from Moscow through canals such as Sputnik, RT (former Russia Today) or Ria Novosti, which belong to the main tools of Kremlin’s propaganda.
According to data from the Voxpot and Druit analysis, the Czech disinformation scene today produces an average of 120 articles a day, with a large part of them being elements of the pro -Kremlin narratives. At the time before the October elections, there is a massive depression of public space by manipulative content that can shape the views of voters and influence the outcome of the vote.
Experts on Russian information operations point out that this is a basic tool for interfering with Moscow in foreign state policy. The goal is clear. They want citizens’ trust in the democratic institutions of the European Union and NATO, attack political leaders and destabilize society from within.
From the Russian nationwide invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the spread of content from sanctioned Russian media within the European Union is illegal. Website operators face a fine of up to 50 million Czech crowns or imprisonment within eight years. Nevertheless, the production of disinformation platforms not only decreases, but before the October elections it reaches a historical maximum – approximately 4,000 articles per month, up to 250 directly from sanctioned sources.
Among the most visible is the opposite associated with the former Czech President Václav Klaus, the new republic close to the SPD movement or the CZ24 News and ZenavaDec websites. It is these platforms that have become a channel through which Russian ideological narratives come directly to Czech voters.
Russian propaganda does not focus only on strengthening its own image. It seeks to bring the tear and deepen existing social conflicts, whether it is questions of migration, energy or geopolitical orientation of the Czech Republic.
This approach corresponds to the ideas of Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin, whose texts are regularly taken over by Czech misinformation portals. Dugin openly claims that the goal is to “strengthen all kinds of separatism and conflicts”, thereby weakening the political process in states such as the Czech Republic.
Such action is particularly dangerous in the period before the elections. Voters who have long been with the manipulative content lose the ability to distinguish the facts from lies. There is a parallel reality in which conspiracy and false narratives spread. In addition, since these views are strengthened in closed communities, the effect is multiplied.
Warnings from state institutions
The threat of Russian interference in the Czech elections is not only pointed out by independent analysts, but also by the state institutions themselves. The head of the Security Information Service (BIS) Michal Koudelka openly described Russian influence as one of the most serious security threats for the upcoming parliamentary elections. BIS emphasizes its impartiality. Its task is not to enter the domestic political competition, but only to monitor foreign activities that can endanger the democratic functioning of the country.
Koudelka also recalled a recent case that shows that this is not abstract concerns. In 2023 during the presidential campaign, a manipulated video appeared on the Internet, which falsely depicted candidate Petr Paul, who seems to call for the Czech Republic to be involved in the war in Ukraine. The investigation has shown that the trail leads directly to Russia – proof that the Kremlin has targeted modern technologies for the manipulation of Czech voters.
According to BIS, Russia is still the main global actor in the field of elections. The Czech Republic is one of the key goals together with countries such as Romania or. The methods used are diverse: from spreading misinformation to cyber attacks to illegal funding to undermine citizens’ confidence in democratic processes.
The timing of this campaign is not a coincidence. Its aim is the only thing – to sow tension and split just at a time when the country’s future is decided in the elections.
