Czech authorities have identified and opened an investigation into a network of nearly 300 bot accounts on TikTok that are amplifying pro-Russian narratives and campaigning for anti-system parties - chiefly SPD, Stačilo! and PRO, Deník N reported, citing government sources.
According to the Center for the Study of Online Risks, several “content creators” sit at the core of the network, with videos drawing up to 250,000 views. Around them, hundreds of accounts automatically liked and reposted content to trick TikTok’s algorithm into deeming the clips “popular” and pushing them to real users. The coordinated campaign’s total reach is estimated at 800,000 to 1.3 million views.
The accounts posted videos against the EU and NATO, as well as clips featuring politicians from Stačilo! (“Enough!” - a left-wing coalition led by the Communists), SPD (“Freedom and Direct Democracy” - a far-right party) and PRO (“Right, Respect, Professionalism” - a right-populist movement). Among those featured: Stačilo! leader Kateřina Konečná, former foreign minister Lubomír Zaorálek, SPD figures Radim Fiala, Tomio Okamura and economist Miroslav Ševčík, and PRO leader Jindřich Rajchl. The fast-rising popularity of videos by former politician Miroslav Sládek, who is running with the alliance Česká republika na 1. místě! (“Czech Republic First!”), is singled out.
The Czech Telecommunication Office (ČTÚ) confirmed it is working on the case with the intelligence services. Authorities are consulting with the European Commission and TikTok itself, demanding the platform block such accounts and disclose their origins. Some profiles have already been removed.
Experts point to a Russian link. “This is a massive artificial amplification of anti-system content, most often supporting the far right and far left, all run from Russia by its intelligence services,” Pavel Havlíček, an analyst at the Association for International Affairs, told Deník N. He said similar campaigns have been documented in Romania and Germany.
Researchers note the accounts’ artificial activity sometimes gives them away: videos appear in Russian, and at times in Vietnamese, German or Romanian, and profile names lack Czech diacritics. Czech experts warn such operations could significantly affect the information space given TikTok’s popularity among young voters: more than two million people aged 18 to 24 use the app in the country.
Pro-Russian activity in the Czech Republic has also moved offline in recent days. On September 27, supporters of SPD and Stačilo! staged a demonstration near Prague Castle under the slogan “Mr. President, respect the elections.” Clashes broke out with counterprotesters, including activists carrying Ukrainian and European flags and signs reading “Your president sits in Moscow.”
Political scientist and The Insider columnist Ivan Preobrazhensky says the main goal was to pressure Czech President Petr Pavel, who will shape the next government:
“Participants in the Saturday rally in Prague on September 27 claimed they gathered to prevent fraud in elections scheduled for early October. The alleged perpetrators are Brussels - meaning the European Commission - NATO, which most of the politicians present want the country to leave, and Czech liberals. The real aim was to put pressure on the sitting president, Petr Pavel, who supports the current liberal government that, according to polls, could lose. The counterprotesters responded by chanting, ‘Your president is in the Kremlin,’ implying the protesting movements and parties take anti-Ukraine positions and echo Russian propaganda narratives.”
“The rally was organized by the ‘Svatopluk’ association, led by former Czech ambassador to France Petr Drulák. Drulák is now seen as one of the ideologists behind the Stačilo! party list, formed mainly by Czech Communists and joined by Social Democrats aligned with ex-President Miloš Zeman, known for proposing that Crimea be recognized as Russian.”
“The purpose was to pressure President Petr Pavel, who after the early-October parliamentary elections is empowered to ask one of the leaders of parties that make it into parliament to become prime minister and form a government. These presidential powers directly affect mid-sized parties on both the left and the far right, which hope to become coalition partners of ex–Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement, currently leading polls with 30% to 35%. The Communists and nationalists, along with their backers, clearly fear the president will block their participation in government.”
