Polish research institute suggests interference in presidential campaign but fails to call out primary beneficiary

With many questioning the improper handling of Romania’s first round of voting in its presidential election last December, wPolsce24 asks if the same is not now happening in Poland, ahead of its election, saying that left-liberal elites “have proven” they will derail democratic processes to stay in power.

The portal draws attention to announcements that sound ominously similar to those that became the basis for the cancellation and invalidation of the first round of elections in Romania. For example, ads on Facebook attacking Karol Nawrocki (supported by PiS) and Sławomir Mentzen (Confederation candidate), while shining a positive light on the candidate of PM Tusk’s Civic Platform KO, Rafał Trzaskowski.

Poland’s National Research Institute (NASK) even took to X to draw attention to the issue, stating: “Possible Attempt to Interfere in Election Campaign! NASK Disinformation Analysis Center has identified political ads on the Facebook platform that may be financed from abroad. The materials were displayed in Poland. Campaign ad accounts spent more on political materials in the last 7 days than any campaign committee. The actions were ostensibly intended to support one of the candidates and discredit others. The campaigns carried out by the advertising accounts concerned in particular Rafał Trzaskowski, Karol Nawrocki and Sławomir Mentzen.”

Możliwa próba ingerencji w kampanię wyborczą!
Ośrodek Analizy Dezinformacji NASK zidentyfikował reklamy polityczne na platformie Facebook, które mogą być finansowane z zagranicy. Materiały wyświetlane były na obszarze Polski.

Zaangażowane w kampanię konta reklamowe w ciągu… pic.twitter.com/kGzXhLiY0v

— NASK (@NASK_pl) May 14, 2025

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The issue, according to Janusz Cieszyński, the former head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs under PiS, is that the ads, he claims, in no way harm Trzaskowski but actually help him, calling into question whether NASK is properly doing its job. As he commented on the surprising announcement on X: “NASK, instead of fighting disinformation, saves R. Trzaskowski’s campaign.”

“For many weeks now, the profiles of Wiesz Jak Nie Jest and Stół Dorosłych have been active on Facebook. Over the past 30 days, they have spent half a million zlotys on ads attacking Karol Nawrocki and Sławomir Mentzen. That’s more than any legal election committee! I reported this matter to @Meta myself on April 22. I forwarded the link to the account and the information that the address provided for registering the account is… a vacant building in Gdańsk. I was told that Facebook would do nothing about it. It was only three weeks later that NASK, which runs a team for monitoring election disinformation using money from a multi-million subsidy, took a stance on the matter. Unfortunately, in its statement, the institute seeks to blur the line of responsibility and suggests that the wronged parties are… three candidates, including Rafał Trzaskowski. This is not true – Trzaskowski is the direct beneficiary of this illegally financed campaign, which has been running on the internet with impunity for almost two months. It is enough to look at the materials available in the Facebook Ad Library, the message of which is a 1:1 narrative of the Civic Platform,” commented Cieszyński.

The politician also added that “after the 2023 parliamentary elections, NASK published a report on external interference in the elections and the millions spent by Soros-linked companies from Estonia that supported Donald Tusk’s party.”

“To my knowledge, law enforcement agencies did not use this information, and the case was not taken further. Today, the NASK Disinformation Analysis Center is headed by Magdalena Wilczyńska, a former collaborator of Adam Bodnar. We can therefore expect that the Institute, headed by Radosław Nielek, accused of ties to the Chinese Huawei, will sweep the matter under the carpet so as not to harm its principals from the Civic Platform. Everything we are seeing today reduces the trust of Poles in the integrity of the electoral process. The Prime Minister and the coordinator for services should urgently speak out on this matter, and explain who is financing these ads and why. And also whether this illegal campaign is financed from Poland or abroad,” he concluded his post.