Our new Ripple Research snapshot shows how these narratives spread in Romanian, Russian, and English. The big takeaway is simple. Euroscepticism online is not background noise. It is a deliberate strategy that risks changing how people see #democracy itself.

Read our complete analysis below.

These are not random comments. They are part of a wave of online influence that tries to paint the EU as corrupt, colonial, and dangerous to Moldova’s sovereignty.

Ahead of the September 2025 elections, one post on X called the EU “the new #SovietUnion in designer clothes.” Another warned that “Moldova will be the next to be sacrificed after #Ukraine.” Together, they reached more than a million people.

Ripple Research will continue monitoring this space as this year’s heatwave season progresses.

The opportunity exists now for institutions, media, and communicators to populate the information landscape with clear, accurate, and accessible content. What people encounter during this heightened attention will influence their understanding and response to this crisis.

These same narratives resurfaced in 2024. As 2025's search interest climbs, we're seeing the groundwork laid for misinformation to spread again - potentially reaching audiences before reliable sources can respond.

Our tracking of heatwave-related misinformation reveals persistent patterns. In 2023, we documented familiar themes: claims that historical heatwaves were more severe, allegations of temperature data manipulation, and attempts to normalize current extremes.

Ripple Research has tracked this trend across 2023, 2024, and now 2025: during periods of extreme heat, search activity consistently spikes. That creates a narrow window where #misinformation can take hold. And there’s a lot of misinformation out there.

Heatwaves are becoming more deadly and widespread. Each year, as they hit, more people turn to Google to understand what’s happening.

💬 With a majority treating social feeds as their newsroom, studying & countering misinformation is more important than ever. We need to track what narratives circulate, who amplifies them & how they affect people's decisions. Only then can we build an environment where people make informed choices.

🗓️ Ripple Research studies how misinformation spreads, why it sticks, and how it influences decisions. Our work has shown how polluted information environments reduce trust, distort debates, and harden resistance to evidence-based action.

💡 This matters because #publicopinion is shaped inside that environment, and opinion drives behavior. What people believe determines whether they support climate policy, accept health interventions, or trust institutions.

👩‍💻 Social platforms are saturated with misinformation: false claims, conspiracy narratives, and divisive commentary. These circulate alongside real news, often without clear distinctions. The result is a polluted information ecosystem where accuracy is difficult to assess.

🟢 Because social media feeds mix verified reports with #falseclaims, the line between fact and fiction blurs - allowing #misinformation to distort beliefs that drive votes, health choices, and trust in institutions.

Thanks to Erika Staël von Holstein and Sorhna-Paule Perrot from the wonderful Re-imagine Europa team for hosting us!

More event updates to follow.

Ravi Sreenath, our cofounder and managing director, contributed to a session on narrative innovation, sharing insights from our work on how #climate and #agriculture debates are shaped in real-world information ecosystems.