Virtual Poland reported on Thursday that from April 10 Facebook was “drained by political advertising”. They were placed by 2 completely unknown profiles, namely “You Know How It Is” and “The Table of Adults”.
There's no telling who's managing these profiles. In part of the commercials — and all of them seemed like talks with average citizens — candidates were powerfully criticized in the elections supported by PiS Karol Nawrocki and the Confederate candidate Sławomir Mentzen. In the second part, the KO candidate Rafał Trzaskowski was praised. Journalists of the portal were able to identify and contact 3 people in advertising. They all stated that they were encouraged by people associated with the Action Democracy Foundation.
Democracy action cuts off ties to profiles promoting Trzaskowski
The representatives of the board of the Action Democracy Foundation published a message on Thursday. It stresses that the foundation ‘is in no way linked to the activities of Facebook profiles “You Know How It Is” and “Grown Tables”, nor as a foundation active in their operation in any way’.
"For the sake of full transparency, as shortly as we received information about the questionable materials, we were afraid with clarifying the situation. As we are active in public space, it is frequently the case that various actors ask us for help. This was the case — from our IT service provider, with whom we have been working for respective years, we have received a request from people who are ready to participate in the promotional spots and have given it to our volunteers and volunteers. The decision whether and in what form a individual decides to give a message remained entirely up to them,” said the Communication.
Wp.pl stated that Estratos Digital GmbH, based in Vienna, was a company providing “technology services and communication consultation for the foundation. It is headed by 2 Hungarians: Ádám Ficsor (minister for peculiar services in the left-wing government of Gordon Bajnai, that is, from before the age of Victor Orban) and Viktor Szigetvari.
A message by the Action Democracy indicated that it is simply a social organization "consisting of a tiny team, a movement based on grassroots activism and hundreds of thousands of people active mainly in the network". It was added that their members and sympathizers “have the freedom to take their own individual initiatives”.
I'll take care of it.
As Virtual Poland writes, net users have been paying attention to online spots for respective weeks. On Wednesday, the technological and Academic Computer Network (NASK) reacted. She admitted that campaigned advertising accounts have spent more on political material in the last 7 days than any election committee. The interior safety Agency case has already been reported to find the origin and backing of the campaign.
According to Virtual Poland journalists, behind the advertisements promoting Rafał Trzaskowski and attacking his competitors stands worker and volunteers of the Action Democracy Foundation, and its president, Jakub Kocjan, was an assistant to the associate of the Civic Coalition a fewer weeks ago.
