The Disinformation Warning Coming From the Edge of Europe

Late last year, Baumgartner appeared among a lineup of American celebrities addressing Maia Sandu, the current, pro-European president of Moldova and proclaiming in bad Russian: We, Hollywood stars, support the people of Moldova in their desire to overthrow you, Sandu..

Instead the videoswhich researchers suggested were part of a pro-Kremlin influence operationwere commissioned on Cameo, the app that lets anyone buy personalized greetings from celebrities..

But more recently, as this former Soviet state prepares for a pivotal presidential vote and referendum on whether to join the EU, the country has become a cautionary tale about how the worlds biggest social media platforms can be exploited to create and fund a complex disinformation operation that sows discord around some of a societys most divisive subjects...

Its unprecedented in terms of complexity, says Ana Revenco, Moldovas former interior minister, now in charge of the countrys new Center for Strategic Communication and Combating Disinformation..

A yes vote would create the legal guarantee for the country to move towards the European Union, irrespective of governments in the future, says Iulian Groza, executive director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, a nonprofit that wants to accelerate Moldovas integration into Europe.. Polls suggest 55 percent of Moldovans support joining the EU..

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