Hate speech and false threats: what's wrong with the narrative surrounding the Polish elections

On June 24, 2025, a video with the title “Funeral of Polish democracy | Falsifications and vote recount | Will Nawrocki leave? | Lazutkin” was posted on the CTVBY YouTube channel. In the television broadcast of the state TV channel it was said in particular:

Poland has had a two-party system for 20 years, where a long-standing split affects the work of all government bodies. Within the Polish vertical structure, everyone knows who is affiliated with whom and who supports whom. This includes members of election commissions. As a rule, these are people associated with the municipality. And in regions where one party or another is stronger, it is usually there that local fraud occurs. That is, at the level of the commission. And it is not difficult to accidentally or intentionally add just 12 people. You can always say that you simply counted without a calculator. The temptation is great, and the burden of proof is on you. And the law of large numbers says that the larger the commission, the more mistakes there are. Ten years ago, the Polish system was geared towards a turnout of around 60%. But against a backdrop of constant threats, hysteria, mudslinging and scandals, voter turnout is growing with every election. This is because voters perceive each election as the last. Where it is not a question of choosing a development programme, but of saving the country from the domination of the blue-collar elite or a gangster-pimp-drug addict, as was the case this time. Hysteria and panic artificially pushed turnout to 80%, and then it turned out that there was no one to count the votes. More commissions were needed, more mistakes were made, and trust in the system declined. This means that the ground for hysteria and panic has been laid once again. It’s a vicious circle. But how can we find out who really won? It is clear that the system is a two-party system, and both sides tweak the results slightly in their favour. But since the resources for rigging are roughly equal, the administrative resources are divided roughly in half. Although, incidentally, there was an attempt to change the balance in these elections. One of the candidates, Tshaskowski, has been head of the Warsaw city council for eight years. This means corruption interests and people who are loyal to him. But even that did not help, which speaks to the candidate’s overall weakness. And if we consider fraud as a technology, two steps are needed. First, the seizure of local resources, and then fraud at a higher level in the parliamentary and presidential elections. But then it turns out that no elections can be trusted at all, and democracy turns into constant paranoia.

Our verdict based on the conducted analyses:

Verdict: Uncertain

Reasons:

• Evidence for the claim, quotes, or events is absent or insufficient. However, there is insufficient evidence that they are false.
• These are rumors or assumptions.
• Cause-and-effect relationships are assumed, although there is only correlation of facts or data.
• The investigation is not yet complete.
• This is a research topic on which there is still insufficient knowledge.

Fact-checking rating scale

Full video:

Let’s conduct analysis for FIMI/DIMI signs and current fact-checking.

This is a fragment of a broadcast on the Belarusian state channel CTV — a clear example of information manipulation, combining several techniques at once:

• “dominance of blues” — an offensive reference to LGBT support from Rafał Trzaskowski (mayor of Warsaw, participating in pride parades )
  Poland’s liberal frontrunner faces tricky balancing act in race to the presidency

• “bandit-pimp-drug addict” — defamatory attacks against Karol Nawrocki, without serious evidence, but aimed at discrediting the new president Historian, boxer and possibly pimp: Who is Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s new president

Analysis of FIMI/DIMI techniques
1. Dehumanization and stigmatization (DIMI)

• “dominance of blues” is aimed not at political criticism, but at stigmatizing people with non-traditional sexual orientation (homophobia). This is a classic example of hate speech, prohibited rhetoric based on discrimination .

• “bandit-pimp-drug addict” — insult without evidence, creating an image of Nawrocki as a criminal. The goal is psychological discrediting of the leader (DIMI).

2. Polarization and fear (DIMI + FIMI)

• The rhetoric of “save the country against the threat” intensifies internal division, dividing society into “us-them” (DIMI).

• Mentioning “artificially raised to 80% turnout” — an attempt to present elections as illegitimate, undermining trust in the procedural side of democracy (FIMI / DIMI).

3. Undermining trust in elections (FIMI)

• Subtexts about “no one counting votes” create an impression of lack of procedural control. This is a disinformation technique aimed at destroying trust in institutions.

Fact-checking of key theses