A series of foreign-funded political advertisements appeared on Facebook across Poland ahead of its upcoming presidential election, sparking fears of an attempt at interference, researchers revealed on Wednesday.
"The NASK Disinformation Analysis Center has identified political ads on the Facebook platform that may be financed from abroad," said NASK, Poland's national research institute that oversees cybersecurity and cybercrime efforts.
"The materials were displayed in Poland," the institute added. The adverts were discovered a few days before the first round of the presidential election, which is set to take place this Sunday.
It comes just months after Romania annulled its presidential election due to evidence pointing to Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.
The accounts posting the advertisements "had spent more on political materials in the last seven days than any election commitee," NASK said.
The campaigns, which seemed to support one specific candidate and discredit others, specifically targeted centrist Rafał Trzaskowski, conservative PiS-supported Karol Nawrocki and one of the leaders of the far-right Konfederacja,* Slawomir Mentzen.
NASK said it reported the accounts to Meta, Facebook's parent company, and informed Poland's Internal Security Agency. Measures are being taken to establish the source and financing of the advertisements.
NASK has appealed to citizens to be particularly vigilant and asked them to report to the institute if they encounter any advertisements on social media networks that are not officially marked as coming from the electoral committees of registered candidates.
Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz applauded the research institute for acting quickly.
"It is certainly worth reminding everyone once again to verify sources, to monitor this content," Kosiniak-Kamysz said. "Let's not be manipulated by fake news."
