Welcome to Disinfo Bulletin, your daily update from the EDMO network. Today's most relevant stories: 

🚶 Disinformation stories and narratives about migrants circulating in the weeks ahead of the June vote. Although not the most prominent in numbers, disinformation about migration is a constant phenomenon also observed during the EU elections campaign, especially in countries more exposed to migratory paths. In Spain and Italy, for example, migrants are constantly targeted by false stories portraying them as violent or criminal and opposed to the Western way of living, and sometimes urging for “massive deportations”. At the same time, disinformation content often suggests that these groups of people, as migrants, are entitled to various benefits, while EU institutions are described as willing to permit uncontrolled immigration, with the apparent goal to politically capitalize on the xenophobic messages spread by false narratives.

To this end, false stories exaggerating the anti-immigration sentiment are also significant. This recently happened in Ireland, in the context of a wave of protests against the housing of asylum seekers, with false stories exaggerating the scale of the rallies and exploiting social tensions around the issue. But this is not the only recent case, as the point below further shows.


👨🏼‍💼 🇵🇱 An example of how these narratives are used to target the government in Poland, one of the most sensitive countries to the issue of migration. Polish PM Donald Tusk pledged an investment of 10 billion złotys (€2.3 billion) to enhance security at the border between Poland and Belarus. For years the issue of migration has held the center stage of Polish political consciousness, and battles between Minsk and Warsaw over the flow of migrants across the border have in turn led to a disinformation storm. Far-right groups in Poland are contributing to the spreading of pro-Kremlin, anti-migrant disinformation, and recently Donald Tusk has been targeted by disinformation alleging his approval of the new EU Pact on migration, while Polish legislation is generally restrictive towards new migrants. In such a context, attempts to frame Tusk as soft on migration are meant to discredit him with voters and influence public opinion ahead of the elections.


📱 🇮🇪 Anonymous accounts on X target Irish politics. An investigation published on May 27 by The Journal FactCheck, a fact-checking organization part of the EDMO network, reveals how over 150 anonymous social media accounts on X, posing as Irish users, are targeting politicians, journalists, and news outlets with extreme views. These accounts, potentially part of an influence operation, are spreading divisive content on topics like immigration, LGBTQ+ issues, and the Ukraine war ahead of the European and local elections in June.

The accounts often exhibit signs of being operated by non-Irish users and have been linked to similar tactics seen globally, raising concerns about foreign interference in Ireland’s political discourse at such a crucial moment. Read the full investigation here: The disinfluencers: How over 150 anonymous 'Irish' accounts are swamping X with extreme views. 

If you have suggestions, comments or requests about this newsletter, you can write to edmo.tfeu2024@eui.eu

What is a “disinformation narrative”? Please find here a short methodological note about the definition used by the EDMO fact-checking network.

The Disinfo Bulletin gathers material from the inputs of the EDMO fact-checking network, as well as a recently launched public database from the EFCSN network (Elections 24 Check), and the various national EDMO hubs, including community initiatives and insights from individual fact-checking organizations.

Photo: European Parliament, 2016