Moldova Prepared Program targeted by manipulative narratives

The Center for Strategic Communication and Countering Disinformation (StratCom) has flagged a campaign distorting Moldova Prepared program, launched by the authorities to increase citizens’ capacity to cope with emergency situations. The online messages fueled fears related to distrust in state institutions, economic difficulties and concerns about war.

The National Crisis Management Center (CNMC) announced Moldova Prepared program on October 9 this year. It is based on a simple principle: a better-prepared society is better able to cope with unforeseen situations, such as interruptions in electricity or water supplies, earthquakes, epidemics, cyberattacks, extreme weather phenomena, or other events that affect society’s well-being. The 72-hour period is an international preparedness benchmark that helps society, institutions, and families plan their basic needs in emergency situations.


“The announcement became the subject of malicious narratives aimed at instilling the ideas that the state is abandoning its citizens; that civil preparedness proves that war is imminent; that the authorities will interrupt services as part of an experiment; and that money would go toward defense and privileges rather than daily needs. StratCom Moldova’s analysis of public posts from October 9–19 shows that the messages shifted the discussion away from the usefulness of civil protection toward alleged hidden intentions, exploiting distrust in institutions, economic difficulties, and fear of war,” the institution noted.


Thus, on October 9, the initial information explained the recommendations addressed to citizens, but that same evening messages appeared claiming that the state would leave people to fend for themselves.


“The recommendation that households maintain supplies for the first 72 hours was thus transformed into an accusation that the authorities were abandoning their responsibilities. Subsequently, on October 10–11, a text distributed on Telegram linked the 72-hour campaign to the army, drone production, and the alleged abandonment of neutrality. Approximately nine minutes after the first post, a reformulation appeared on another channel. Reproductions of the text followed, some with more categorical headlines: what had been presented as an interpretation became a claim about the loss of neutrality, without any additional evidence,” StratCom stated.


Starting on October 12, video materials in Romanian and Russian were published, combining the same data on defense spending with information about shelters and opinions regarding the risk of war.


“The abundance of information, ensured through repetition, could create the impression of confirmation—if it appears in several places, then it must be true. Later, on October 17, a message about ‘72 hours of testing and simulation’ without services circulated on Telegram and Facebook, supported by public figures and picked up by other channels; requests for explanations increased its visibility, without evidence that such a plan existed. Later, some clarifications were accompanied by the suggestion that disconnections could nevertheless take place, while others explicitly rejected the rumor,” the institution added.


StratCom warns citizens that several channels repeating the same claim do not constitute confirmation of that claim.


“Before reacting to or sharing a message, check the original source: what exactly does it say, what evidence does it present, and what have those who reposted it changed?” the institution said.


Moldova Prepared program will begin in November this year and will include the launch of the “Crises” module in the EVO application, training for local authorities, practical activities for citizens, exercises in schools, and the distribution of informational materials. The program is designed for the long term so that people know how to protect themselves, authorities are prepared to intervene, and communities can act together and support one another.