US senators urge Meta and Google to block Russian propaganda and illegal funding ahead of Moldovan elections
U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis recently sent letters to Meta and Google, urging them to allocate sufficient resources to block Russian propaganda and political funding that could affect the integrity of Moldova’s September 28 elections.
Oligarch Ilan Șor is in the spotlight, as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reports he has spent over $500,000 on Facebook ads. The source also notes that Șor “continues to use the platforms to pollute the information space.”
“While we must remain neutral regarding the outcome of Moldova’s elections, we cannot ignore foreign efforts to interfere in favor of certain parties or candidates. When such interference attempts to use U.S.-based platforms, we must take a proactive approach,” the senators wrote in their letter to Alphabet, according to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“We urge you to do everything possible to ensure that the sanctioned oligarch Ilan Șor can no longer use your platforms to spread propaganda,” the U.S. senators appealed to Meta.
They referred to warnings from Moldovan President Maia Sandu and several non-governmental organizations about external interference in the electoral process, as well as the recognition by the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom of the threats posed to Moldova’s democracy by Russian disinformation campaigns.
Authorities in Chișinău have repeatedly warned that the Șor criminal group, coordinated from Moscow, uses social media to spread false narratives, discredit Moldova’s pro-European leaders, and obstruct the country’s European path.
Moreover, Moldovan journalists revealed that hundreds of fake accounts, operated by real activists of the “Victory” Bloc launched by Ilan Șor from Russia’s capital, have been created over the past year to spread Russian propaganda on TikTok and Facebook. Those involved in this activity are paid with “money from Moscow.”
