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Latvia

August 19th - August 25th, 2024 | Week 51 | Month 12

Latvia Weekly: Rye Bread Campaign Under Scrutiny

The disinformation narratives were primarily focused on domestic issues related to corruption and the perceived incompetence of the current government.

by Otto Tabuns
Rye bread
Main channels: Facebook, TikTok

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Main narratives:

  • general anti-European Union sentiments
  • the incompetence of the current government
  • general anti-governmental sentiments

Overview:

The disinformation narratives were primarily focused on domestic issues related to corruption and the perceived incompetence of the current government. A key example of this narrative is the increasing costs of the Rail Baltica project, which has been a recurring topic in previous weeks.

Another example discussed during the examined period concerns allegations of corruption and government mismanagement related to a rye bread advertisement campaign aimed at youth, with a budget of 300,000 euros. The campaign featured attractive citizens enjoying traditional rye bread with the slogan “choose your,” promoting the selection of local produce. This campaign is part of a new pilot project by the Latvian Ministry of Agriculture, the Rye Bread Programme, which aims to incorporate traditional Latvian rye bread into daily school meals and support the development of a school catering system based on locally produced agricultural and food products.

In terms of platform usage, TikTok continues to be the most actively used platform, reaching a significantly larger audience and generating more engagement than other platforms. Meanwhile, content on X/Twitter has seen a decrease.

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