Pro-Russian actors have repeatedly used Euronews' likeness and visual identity in recent weeks to spread propaganda against various European countries.
ADVERTISEMENT
More false videos alleging criminality and health issues in Moldova and attributed to Euronews are circulating online, with some even being posted by accounts posing as Euronews staff.
One video claims that Moldova ranks first in the number of STD carriers in Europe, while others talk of waves of illegal immigration flowing from Moldova into the European Union, particularly Italy.
Rome has seen a rise in the number of criminal gangs making false documents for immigrants from Moldova, according to one of the fake videos.
All of them use Euronews' graphics and branding and many have been shared by accounts on TikTok and X purporting to be current or former Euronews journalists, including one which claims to be the channel's former CEO.
They've received thousands of views and likes as of the time of writing, but Euronews did not produce these videos. Our graphics and format were copied and used without our consent and our teams are working to ensure the video is removed from all social platforms.
The accounts posing as Euronews staff feature profile pictures that appear to be AI-generated. One supposedly belongs to a man called Brandon Goyce, who claims to be Euronews' former CEO.
However, no such person has ever served as the channel's CEO and online searches yield no trace of anyone who bears that name and works in the media.
Other profiles contain similar uncanny avatars and the same bio: #Euronews or #Euronews rep. They have also all only posted a single video each, all related to the same subject matter about Moldova and follow no other accounts.
The false videos and accounts appear to be part of the Matryoshka campaign, a coordinated pro-Russian operation known among fact-checkers for spreading false news reports stylised as material from international media outlets, academic institutions and government agencies.
The campaign often targets EU and NATO countries, as well as Ukraine, seemingly in an effort to weaken alliances and discredit Western democracies.
EuroVerify has already debunked other false videos attributed to Euronews as part of the disinformation campaign.
A fake video posted on Russian Telegram channels claimed that corruption had pushed Moldova to become one of the biggest black markets for arms sales. It also attributed a false quote to a Romanian minister.
Another alleged that Romania cautioned French authorities over interference in the Romanian presidential election runoff.
In both instances, Euronews and national authorities in France and Romania fully denounced the videos and their contents.