A TikTok video featuring actor Brian Baumgartner, known for his role in the American version of The Office, emerged as an early indication that the upcoming election in a small European country would be atypical. Late in the previous year, Baumgartner appeared alongside a group of American celebrities, addressing Maia Sandu, the pro-European president of Moldova. In poorly spoken Russian, Baumgartner declared, “We, Hollywood stars, support the people of Moldova in their desire to overthrow you, Sandu.” These videos were not deepfakes but were, according to researchers, part of a pro-Kremlin influence campaign. They were commissioned through Cameo, an app that allows users to purchase personalized greetings from celebrities. Both Cameo and Baumgartner’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment from WIRED.
Moldova, which is about the size of the US state of Maryland and situated between the EU and Ukraine, has long reported interference from Russia. As the nation approaches a significant presidential election and a referendum on joining the EU, it has become an example of how major social media platforms can be manipulated to conduct intricate disinformation campaigns targeting society’s most controversial topics.
Since the onset of war in neighboring Ukraine two years ago, bots have been actively searching the Moldovan internet for genuine content to amplify to larger audiences, such as videos portraying Ukrainian refugees negatively. Moldovan citizens have expressed concern over their Facebook feeds being flooded with politically charged, often anti-government advertisements originating from pages with Vietnamese names. A year later, researchers estimated that Meta had earned at least $200,000 from a pro-Kremlin advertising campaign targeting Moldova. Russia’s foreign ministry also did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
Ana Revenco, Moldova’s former interior minister and current head of the country’s Center for Strategic Communication and Combating Disinformation, described the situation as unprecedented in terms of complexity. Revenco believes that Moldova’s experiences on platforms like Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and YouTube serve as a warning to the global community. “This shows us our collective vulnerability,” she stated. “Platforms are not only active here. If [Russia] can use them here, they can use them everywhere.”
As the election approaches, accounts linked to Russia have exhibited increased aggression, according to Revenco. “They activate accounts that have been created long ago and have been on standby,” she explained. “They are engaging bots, and they’re synchronizing posts across multiple platforms.”
