Security services predict an increase in information influence from Russia during the election year 0 20

The Bureau for Prevention and Combating Corruption (BPBК) reports that the official campaign period for the elections to the 15th Saeima will begin on June 6 and last until election day on October 3. At the beginning of this year, the BPBК will calculate the amount of expenses that parties will be able to spend on their election campaigns.

The BPBК does not rule out the risk of deepfakes being used during the election period. There is a possibility that social networks will spread AI-generated video, audio, and visual materials with scandalous plots about parliamentary candidates, aimed at deliberately misleading voters and influencing their political choices.

Considering that from October 2025, paid political advertising will be banned on several platforms, including Facebook, the BPBК expects an increase in the share of hidden campaigning.

According to the bureau's observations, in recent years, political organizations have increasingly used social networks to promote political content, so there is a risk that paid content will be placed on social networks without being identified as election campaigning.

According to the Security Police (SGB), the greatest risks to the democratic and fair conduct of elections may come from the information influence of Russia and Belarus. To directly or indirectly influence public opinion and election results, Russia could potentially activate disinformation campaigns against parties and parliamentary candidates in the Latvian information space who oppose Russian aggression and support Ukraine.