Author: Mateusz Zadroga, Foundation “Counteracting Disinformation” — FakeNews.pl, Editor-in-Chief
Reviewers: NASK Team
Updated 27/10/2025
Introduction
- Disinformation in Poland remained a little-known phenomenon for many years. Both the political class and the public paid little attention to the problem, even though it had repeatedly created political sentiment in Poland. In 2015, anti-immigrant narratives contributed significantly to Law and Justice party (PiS) election victory. A very negative attitude among Poles became evident, especially since the outbreak of the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border in 2021. Since then, to this day, the topic of migration has become very emotional, affecting the perception of these issues in Polish society. False information concerned, among other things, Foreigners’ Integration Centers (CICs), crime among migrants, or Muslim holiday celebrations are among the most powerful disinformation narratives in Poland.
- The situation did not change for the following years. The COVID-19 pandemic alone showed how dangerous false information can be. Unfortunately, Polish society showed little resilience to the deluge of false content. Poland remained one of the least vaccinated countries in the EU/EEA. The government’s pro-vaccination policy was ineffective. This only increased reluctance to comply with sanitary restrictions and gave fuel to anti-vaccine activists, ultimately resulting in a high COVID-19 mortality rate in Polish society.
- We could also see an increase in disinformation narratives during the women’s strike against stricter abortion laws in the fall of 2020. The Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling made abortion due to fetal abnormality illegal, which in practice meant a near total ban on abortion. Many manipulated and falsified narratives were created around this topic, as well as the broad issue of women’s reproductive rights. These were generated primarily by far-right activists and journalists. Despite the largest protests in Poland since 1989, the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling has remained in effect to this day.
- Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the effectiveness of Kremlin propaganda in Poland. Thousands of social media accounts shifted from anti-vaccine narratives to anti-Ukrainian content. In the first period of the war, however, Polish society proved immune to Russian propaganda. The Kremlin’s aggressive narratives were ineffective, and Poles were willing to support Ukraine and give shelter to refugees. This also resulted in a significant increase in public awareness against disinformation, which to some extent made Poles more resistant to propaganda. Unfortunately, economic tensions between Poland and Ukraine that arose in late 2023 and early 2024 caused anti-Ukrainian sentiment to grow. Currently, the positive attitude toward Ukrainians has weakened significantly. Far-right parties and organizations largely rely on these negative sentiments, while amplifying them.
- In 2024 and 2025, disinformation in Poland also was present on the EU policies, such as the European Green Deal. There is a very politically inflamed dispute over this topic. Over and over again in social media, we can encounter narratives about an alleged attempt to destroy the Polish economy or deprive the country of coal mining opportunities.
- State security has also become an extremely important topic since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. It gained additional importance after the election of Donald Trump as the U.S. president. It is associated with numerous rumors or unverified information designed to heat up the political atmosphere. This is eagerly exploited by Russian centers of influence in an effort to shatter confidence in the government and the country’s defense capabilities. They are intended to demonstrate Poland’s inability to defend itself and the inefficiency of the national security system.
- One of the main topics discussed during the recent presidential election was the so-called “Romanian scenario.” According to the right wing politicians, the victory of the “wrong” candidate would mean the annulment of the elections and their repetition. In this way, as in Romania, it would mean the victory of the ruling party’s candidate against the will of the voters. This scenario was used extensively to stir up negative emotions among voters during the election campaign, especially on social media.
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The initial project (V1 of this factsheet) was Funded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Further updates have been funded on EU DisinfoLab’s own resources. If you’re interested in supporting our efforts, get in touch.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of EU DisinfoLab. This factsheet does not represent an endorsement by EU DisinfoLab of any organisation.