TikTok bots push anti-system parties ahead of Czech elections

PRAGUE – Coordinated networks of inauthentic TikTok accounts are pushing pro-Russian narratives and boosting anti-system parties in Czechia, intelligence services and researchers warned ahead of the 3–4 October parliamentary elections.

According to Czech newspaper Deník N, close to a thousand such profiles have been mapped, many of them newly created and partially operated by bots.

The Centre for the Research of Online Risks estimates these accounts collectively attract between five and nine million views per week – more than the combined TikTok reach of leaders of the major Czech parties.

The operation functions through tightly linked clusters. When one account posts a video, companion accounts generate likes, shares and comments within seconds, signalling “success” to the algorithm and amplifying reach among real users.

The content promotes pro-Russian messaging – from portraying Vladimir Putin positively and legitimising the war in Ukraine to supporting candidates from anti-establishment parties such as Tokyo-born Tomio Okamura’s SPD and Stačilo.

Czech intelligence has already delivered the list of suspicious accounts to the Czech Telecommunication Office (ČTÚ), which oversees social platforms. “We are waiting to see how the TikTok platform evaluates the submission,” ČTÚ spokesperson Tereza Meravá told Deník N. As Euractiv reported earlier, TikTok deployed a special task force to monitor election-related content in Czechia.

Secret briefings on the manipulation have been shared with both Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President Petr Pavel.

Sources cited by Deník N said the impact is expected to be limited compared to Romania, where elections were annulled last year following large-scale online interference.

“There is an attempt here, but the potential and significance are not fundamental. It is an unsuccessful attempt,” one intelligence source said.