Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer). (source: SME - Marko Erd)
Taking to social media, former defense minister and Demokrati chair Jaroslav Naď claims that PM Robert Fico's Facebook page uses prohibited forms of manipulation, and as such violating the rules set by Meta, reports the SITA newswire.
Naď says the pages of PM and other coalition representatives employ fake followers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, tens of thousands of fake likes, bots and AI. Supposedly, Meta already knows this and is considering what to do.
PM Fico's Facebook page has more than 314,000 followers, with his posts usually garnering tens of thousands of likes; for example, more than 75,000 people liked his Christmas tree post. In this regard, Naď claims that even Beyoncé with 56 million followers does not reach the same amount of interaction.
According to marketer Tomáš Pjontek, who published an analysis on LinkedIn at the end of 2024, Fico is reaching "absurd" numbers that even Slovak sports celebrities Petra Vlhová or Paulína Fialková pale in comparison, not to mention Czech PM Petr Fiala or European leaders such as Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron.
He also added that likes, comments and other forms of interaction can be bought cheaply; for example, 10,000 likes can be had for $50 to $100.
