Shocking conclusions from the report. "Russian bots and the GRU have a silent ally"

The politician spoke during the presentation of the state report of the NASK research institute "Reaction of social media to reports in the first half of 2026". Gawkowski's demand to the platforms Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digitalization Krzysztof Gawkowski stated that "every social media platform has dirty hands when it comes to safe and clean internet from disinformation", and the differences lie in the fact that "some do not react at all, while others react in a minimal way". - They should be Polish-language teams that will operate from Poland and which will have immediate connection with NASK and the Polish security services that report the content, he stated. - There is a digital war with Russia, and part of it is the disinformation front. On this front of disinformation, Russian bots and the GRU (Russian foreign military intelligence - red.) have a quiet ally: social media - Gawkowski said. He added: - Social media platforms are not taking any action in this matter. Gawkowski threatens fines The Minister said that he has demanded "the liquidation of fictitious appeal procedures and the immediate removal of identified bot networks that appear" in the network. - Any demand by the state not fulfilled by the platforms will be evidence to initiate proceedings for imposing financial penalties on social media platforms, which will be in the tens of millions of zlotys or euros - he added. Earlier Gawkowski stated on the X platform that the conclusions of the report are "deplorable: Poland's information security is treated by digital giants as a byproduct of business". "We reveal all this data because Poland will not be a country where corporations make profits from advertising and ignore disinformation attacks on our country" - he emphasized. How platforms should react In the report prepared by the NASK Rapid Reaction and Disinformation Detection Team, the following platforms were taken into account: - Facebook; - Instagram; - Threads; - X; - TikTok; - Google; - Discord; - Telegram; - Bluesky. It was reported that during the first six months of this year, 65,220 disinformation materials were reported. Moderation was applied to 11,270 (17.3%) of them, and 49,570 materials (76%) were left without reaction. Only 4,380 (6.7%) of them were removed. - X removed 1,438 publications, which is 2.4% of the reported content, and rejected 47,464 reports (78.9%); - Facebook removed 2,150 publications (63.6%), rejected 1,194 reports (35.3%); - Instagram removed 59 publications (37.8%), rejected 97 reports (62.2%); - Threads removed 2 publications (6.9%), rejected 27 reports (93.1%); - TikTok removed 618 publications (55.7%), rejected 488 reports (44%); - Google removed 37 publications (11.5%), rejected 285 (88.5%); - Discord rejected all 4 reports; - Telegram removed one material (11.1%), rejected 8 (88.9%); - Bluesky removed 69 publications (98.6%), rejected one report (1.4%). Reported publications Most of the reported materials, 62,137 materials (95.3%), contained manipulations, while 1,546 incidents (2.4%) were related to impersonation of an institution or a widely known person. Platforms most often took action in response to incidents related to impersonation of an institution or a widely known person. Among the reports from this category, 1,215 materials (78.6%) were removed; 60 incidents (3.9%) were moderated; 271 materials (17.5%) received no reaction and remain available. In the case of manipulated content, social media platforms reacted in the following way: 3,021 materials (4.9%) were removed; 11,125 materials (17.9%) were moderated; 47,991 incidents (77.2%) received no reaction from the moderating teams. The vast majority of reports from this category concerned accounts recognized by the NASK Disinformation Analysis Center (OAD) as bots. The most limited reaction from the platforms was towards false information - out of 1,537 reports, 144 materials were removed (9.4%), while 85 materials were moderated (5.5%). The remaining 1,308 reports (85.1%) were rejected. Disinformation narratives The disinformation narratives included, among others: - disinformation about the delivery of aggregates to Ukraine; - a pro-Russian disinformation campaign; - narratives around the burning of the Solskie Forest; - AI videos about cash payments; - AI profiles with Polish soldiers; - fake matrimonial offers from Ukrainians generated with the help of AI; - fake experts selling supplements; - advertising campaigns on X and TikTok; - the profile "Straż Miejska Kraków" (Kraków City Guard); - the Facebook group "Iga Świątek". Meeting of the Disinformation Fighting Center Presenting the report, Deputy Minister of Digitalization Paweł Olszewski informed that the first meeting of the Disinformation Fighting Center (CWD) will take place on Wednesday. He announced that the first results of the team's work will be presented a week later - October 28th. Olszewski conveyed that the Center "basically has the framework for fighting disinformation" to "face the large apparatus of Russian propaganda, manipulation, and intervention in our minds". He announced that the CWD will cooperate with representatives of the media, business, and representatives of individual social groups. Gawkowski announced that "after the work of the Disinformation Fighting Center teams is completed, a report will be prepared for the European Commission, which will inform about which platforms act in favor of Russian disinformation in the Polish information sphere". He added that the results of the Center's work will also be sent to the Ministers of Digitalization from other countries in Europe.