ONLINE CONSPIRACY THEORIES claiming that the local and European elections in Ireland were being rigged peaked just as citizens cast their votes in June.

A new report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a counter-extremism think-tank, has warned that this week’s election offers far-right activists a similar opportunity to use social media to foment doubts and distrust in Ireland’s democratic processes.

Ireland is set to vote on the make-up of the 34th Dáil in a general election on Friday, when polls will be open from 7am to 10pm.

The ISD report said that claims peaked after the broadcast moratorium - which prevents TV and radio stations from broadcasting anything that could influence a vote from 2pm the day before the election – and lasted until polling stations closed on 7 June.

The moratorium is set to be scrapped following a review by Coimisiún na Meán earlier this year.

Although welcoming the measure, the ISD said that the State’s ability to respond to falsehoods about elections and about the integrity of the voting process remains inadequate.

“The regulatory landscape in Ireland remains dangerously underprepared for the threats posed by bad actors,” the ISD’s Aoife Gallagher said.

“These online threats to electoral integrity, coupled with the increase we have seen in political harassment and violence in recent years should worry anyone who is interested in protecting democracy in Ireland.”

The group’s analysis focused on 162 social media posts falsely alleging election interference in the local and European elections between 26 May and 12 June.

It said the vast majority of these (86%) related to claims of “foreign interference”, including suggestions that foreign-born candidates were threatening Irish sovereignty or that parties were harvesting votes by registering asylum seekers to vote (which is legal).

“In the days before the election, the language around non-citizen voter participation became increasingly heated, with their participation described as “an attack on our democracy”,” the report said.

“Other posts called it “a perversion and undermining of our democracy”, with those involved in it accused of “treason”. One post claimed that the registration of Ukrainian voters was a “national scandal” and “absolutely voter corruption”.”

In one instance, a man shared a video to X on election day in which he is seen driving past a polling station in Donegal, where he shouts aggressively at a volunteer that he was letting “all the foreigners vote”.

The ISD also said that accusations that the Government was importing voters were “seeded long before the election was announced”.

Meanwhile, more than one-in-eight false claims (13%) analysed by the ISD referenced allegations of “election rigging”.

Such claims included allegations of “suspicious” voters, claims of illegal voting, or count centre irregularities such as security issues or the validity of the vote-counting process.

One example given included a video being posted by a person who claimed they had been able to cast multiple ballots at the same polling centre (though the video did not corroborate the claims).

The ISD also highlighted posts which raised suspicion about cable ties used to secure ballot boxes, and others which claimed that separating and transporting ballots to different locations – a routine practice in elections – was a sign of electoral interference.

The group warned that Ireland’s far-right movement may be preparing the ground for similar claims of electoral interference during and after the general election on Friday.

“Only British and Irish citizens can vote in general elections in Ireland; however, within days of its announcement, ISD analysts documented foreign interference conspiracy theories circulating on TikTok and Telegram,” the ISD report said.

“The focus of far-right agitators on citizenship ceremonies in recent months indicates how this narrative may shift from targeting the voting rights of asylum seekers and refugees to targeting the voting rights of new citizens.

“If their vote fails to materialise on 29 November, Irish far-right parties and candidates may use “foreign interference” conspiracy theories and narratives to justify more anti-democratic strategies going forward.”

The Journal has calculated that more than 70 far-right candidates are running across the country, either as independents or for one of four registered far-right political parties.