Latvian State Security Service (VDD) is closely evaluating developments in the society and the information space during the pre-election period in order to timely identify and prevent attempts to illegally influence the course and results of the 15th Saeima elections.
Also during the elections, VDD, in cooperation with State Police and other state and local government institutions, will implement enhanced security measures to ensure free and fair elections.
Within the scope of VDD’s competence is identifying and preventing attempts by both foreign nationals and Latvian nationals to illegally influence the course and results of elections.
VDD assesses that, in order to influence public opinion and the election outcome, Russia can potentially intensify disinformation campaigns in Latvia’s information space against political parties and candidates who strongly oppose Russian aggression and support Ukraine. VDD currently has not identified significant and systematic attempts by Russia or other countries hostile towards Latvia to influence the results of the Saeima elections in favour of any political party or candidate. At the same time, VDD has identified and currently assesses individual attempts to disseminate disinformation that are related to elections and specific political parties.
Even though there are currently no direct indications, VDD assesses that provocations initiated by Russia or Belarus during the election period cannot be ruled out – attention-grabbing activities that aim to influence the election process or results.
VDD does not rule out attempts to illegally influence voters’ choices, including the so-called vote buying. However, no such attempts have been identified thus far.
VDD urges every member of the public to provide information about any cases where payment or any other material or non-material goods have been promised in exchange for voting for a political party or a candidate, or if freedom of choice has been influenced in other illegal ways, such as by threats or violence. In such cases, VDD urges to record a detailed description of the nature of the infringement and the individuals involved. If possible, it is also crucial to record any such infringements in a visual or audio format (voice recordings, photos or videos). VDD also urges to note any information that can be used to identify the individuals – name, surname, phone number or social media account, the correspondence (in the form of a screenshot or a downloaded file), licence plate number of the vehicle, etc.
VDD also urges to provide information about identified cases of deliberately creating or disseminating false discrediting information about a political party or candidate using deepfake technology. In such cases, VDD urges to send both the AI-generated or altered video or audio file or picture, and information about the location and time the content was found (such as a hyperlink to the content and the profile of the disseminator).
All information regarding potential infringements should be sent by e-mail to velesanas(abols)vdd.gov.lv, or by calling the Service’s 24-hour phone +371 6720 8964. VDD guarantees the confidentiality of the information and its source.
VDD urges the public to report any illegal campaigning observed on 3 October, the day of the Saeima elections, or the day before to the State Police by calling the 24-hour phone 112, or by sending an e-mail to vpdd(abols)vp.gov.lv. On the aforementioned days, it is prohibited to hand out flyers of political parties or candidates, as well as any political campaigning at polling stations. The public is encouraged to also inform the State Police for any political advertisements that have not been removed within the city. The public is also urged to report any civil disturbances at polling stations or in their vicinity to the State Police.
Members of the public are also urged to report any political advertisements without a reference to the financer on the internet, in public spaces or in the press to Corruption Prevention and Combatting Bureau (KNAB). Information regarding the placement of campaign materials at buildings of state or local government institutions, as well as booklets and other printed material without a specified circulation should be reported to KNAB for further evaluation. The public is also urged to provide KNAB information on paid campaigning materials that have been created with the help of artificial intelligence without indicating it, as well as the use of fake or anonymous social networking accounts created by automated systems for any campaign activities on the internet. KNAB can contacted by calling its phone +371 8000 2070, using the mobile application "Ziņo KNAB!", or by sending an e-mail to pasts(abols)knab.gov.lv.
Information prepared by VDD
Illustrative photo: VDD
