The incident occurred in the run-up to Poland's October 15, 2023 parliamentary ballot, and hackers, likely acting on behalf of Russian intelligence, reportedly planned to send an additional 600,000 text messages urging voters to support the PiS party, Gazeta Wyborcza said, citing an investigation by the Mazovian branch of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Internal Security Agency.
Prosecutors say the timing, coordinated nature of the "Vote for PiS" operation, and the content disseminated suggest that the campaign may have involved disinformation efforts in support of a foreign intelligence service.
These activities reportedly aimed to spread false or misleading information with the goal of causing significant disruption to the functioning of Poland’s political system.
Sources cited by Gazeta Wyborcza claim that professionals, not amateurs, were behind the operation, and their methods point to the involvement of Russian intelligence services.
They note that these efforts align with broader Russian disinformation campaigns in Europe, highlighting that one of Russia's key strategies is to sow confusion and deepen divisions within Western societies.
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Source: Gazeta Wyborcza/IAR