Election Controversy: Smear Campaigns and Accusations Shake Poland's Presidential Race
- Poland's 2025 presidential election stirred controversy after the Polish state institute NASK identified potentially foreign-funded Facebook ads supporting Rafal Trzaskowski ahead of the May 19 vote.
- This issue arose amid reports that Austrian-Hungarian digital firm Estratos and affiliated Polish NGOs helped produce these ads, raising questions about illegal foreign campaign financing banned under Polish law.
- The ads criticized Trzaskowski’s nationalist rivals like Karol Nawrocki and Slawomir Mentzen, who condemned the campaign as unethical, while Trzaskowski and his Civic Platform party denied involvement or financing of the adverts.
- Meta stated the ads originated in Poland, found no evidence of foreign interference, and confirmed the administrators’ Polish identity, while NASK emphasized possible election interference but did not name any foreign state.
- The controversy intensified political tensions and triggered calls for transparency, with some opposition figures demanding Trzaskowski clarify his campaign’s role before the vote this Sunday.
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12 Articles
Polish presidential election frontrunner faces scrutiny over ads
WARSAW - The frontrunner in Poland's presidential election faced questions over a series of online advertisements criticising his rivals on Friday, as he rejected claims that his campaign was behind the films or had subverted spending rules. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Election Controversy: Smear Campaigns and Accusations Shake Poland's Presidential Race
Election Controversy: Smear Campaigns and Accusations Shake Poland's Presidential Race The Polish presidential election has been engulfed in a heated controversy following allegations of an online ad campaign that targeted rivals of Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski. In response to claims that the ads had foreign backing, Facebook's parent company, Meta, rebutted these assertions, insisting the ads originated within Poland.The cybersecurity agency,…
Polish NGO implicated in alleged "illegal election ads" favouring frontrunner Trzaskowski
Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work! Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support. A prominent NGO engaged in promoting democracy played a role in creating material that was used in allegedly foreign-funded Facebook adverts supporting Rafał Tr…
The money trail ends somewhere around the Democratic Party, said Gen. Andrzej Kowalski, former head of counterintelligence and military intelligence, about the scandal involving interference in the election campaign.
Ordo Iuris is running a campaign of lies regarding Rafał Trzaskowski. It collects donations and uses them to print defamatory leaflets. We are reporting the case to the prosecutor's office - Wioletta Paprocka, head of Rafał Trzaskowski's campaign, said on social media.
The first round of the presidential election in Poland will take place on Sunday. According to electoral preferences, it seems that the result will be undecided and the candidate of the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, will advance to the second round, most likely accompanied by the director of the Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, who is supported by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party.
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