How Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour Distorts European Democracy

Coordinated inauthentic behaviour, or CIB, functions by deploying a mix of fake, duplicated, and authentic accounts to act as a singular, adversarial network. By synchronizing activity across platforms like X, Facebook, and Bluesky, these groups artificially inflate the reach of specific political narratives. Monica Murero, in her research on anti-vaccine campaigns, identified this tactic as a significant threat to freedom of expression, noting its capacity to overwhelm authentic public debate.

Recent analysis from the Balkan Free Media Initiative and Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub reveals how this plays out in real-world elections. In Serbia, these networks actively promoted the incumbent leadership while systematically undermining independent outlets. Vanesa Valcheva, head of research at BFMI, argues that CIB corrupts the signals democracies rely on for self-assessment. By projecting an image of inevitability, incumbents aim to demoralize opposition voters and signal stability to international partners, regardless of the actual political climate on the ground.