Politician Šiauliai attracts money to Facebook group with money

Group “Šiauliai – life is boiling!” the social network Facebook was created a week ago, on January 21.

Just half an hour later, administrator Z. Medidov appeared call: “Invite friends and acquaintances to be part of this group to share news about our city. Feeling free! Let life boil! “

In order for people to respond better to the call, they promised: “Most of the three members of this group will be there by February 10th. invited people will receive 50, 35 and 20 euros! “

Other groups didn’t like it anymore

The post received more than 300 reactions, but only four dozen comments and a dozen shares.

However, the temptation seems to have affected people: less than a week later, the group already has 6,000 members. members.

People in it mostly share various photos (not only these days, but also historical), videos, as well as discuss issues relevant to the city, consider when to wait for the end of the quarantine.

“It is probably not news to you that there are many groups on social media with different names and subjects, bringing together motorists, craftsmen, artists, mothers, fathers, etc.”, explained Z. Medžidovas why this group was needed. – There are also many groups whose main theme is a certain residential area (town, city, etc.), in which the residents of that residential area share their problems, moments captured in photos, current events in the city. For example, where an exhibition is held, where there is no snow, where a tree is cut down, where new asphalt is laid, who has had a disaster and support is gathered, etc. ”.

The council member told Facebook that he had counted between 6 and 10 groups dedicated to Šiauliai and the processes taking place in the city: “Šiauliai today”, “Šiauliai online“,” City of Siauliai. life ”,“ Šiauliai – the city of the sun ”,“ What is happening in Šiauliai? ”,“ Help drivers in Šiauliai ”.

“In the past, I shared information related to the city, beautiful photos with other groups, but some became unmanaged garbage, which often publishes unverified information from untrustworthy or anti-government sources, creating opportunities to mislead people, incite to hatred, etc. in. At the same time, important information about the city of Šiauliai is drowned in that information flow and does not reach the target group.

Thus, the idea of ​​the group is the city of Šiauliai, the processes that take place in it, the mutual help of neighbors, the news published by the media or not published by the media. People can speak, reach a wider circle of people than by posting information only in their time zone (account) “

Z.Medžidovas stated that he has already shared 15 minutes text about the city of Šiauliai, virtual exhibition, contacts that can be used to report on dirty streets, thickness of the lake ice.

He also emphasized that content posted to the group will be monitored and managed, offensive comments and information removed from unreliable sources.

“The group does not focus on the self-promotion of one or a group of people. The group and its content are created by all of its members,” explained the politician.

Offer attention to “buy” works, not for money

However, not all Šiauliai residents liked the group. Portal 15 minutes he received a letter with indignation that “Z. Medžidovas, a member of the city council, set out to attract the population not with his political ideas, but with money.”

Its authors, who introduced themselves as “active people of Šiauliai”, said they were overwhelmed, because “invitations to the group due to the winnings of this miraculous lottery are shared by adolescents and children 13-14 years old or younger. Is it really possible to get the attention of voters for a few tens of euros, or should it still be done with the work done and the ideas that create the well-being of the city? We are disappointed and want to restore decency in city politics and public life. “

Residents of Šiauliai noted that, as a member of the Council, Z. Medžidovas spends almost the largest amount of taxpayers’ money on so-called “voter work”.

“Maybe that’s the way to get the money back for taxpayers,” they said.

15 minutes interviewed one of these people, asking that his name not be revealed, he was surprised that politicians were resorting to scammers (scammers).

“It is not even possible to determine which member of the group invited more new members, and this is recognized by the politician himself, promising prizes to all who request it,” explained the interlocutor.

When asked how many people a member of the group would count, who assured him that he invited a large number of people, Medidov half-jokingly replied: “It means you will win.”

Portal 15 minutes Indicated invitees would be counted – Group admin can see who invited member to join group.

Prizes will be delivered out of your pocket

“I created the group not as a politician, but as a citizen, although currently it is impossible to separate completely,” explained Z.Medidov.

Offering cash prizes for a group invitation is a “marketing tool that contributes to faster group growth.” I had to see that in other groups, people were invited to share different content on their accounts, tag friends, click “like”, for which they were offered prizes.

By the way, these “share and like” contests are against Facebook rules.

They declare, among other thingsthat pages (such as company or organization blogs), groups, event pages can be used to organize various promotions. But there are additional conditions for this.

“When organizing lotteries, you can not use personal accounts (the rules say ‘time zones’ – ed. Post) or friends (for example,’ you need to share your account to participate ‘,’ share on a friend’s account to have more participants ‘or’ check your friends if you want to participate (not allowed), – say the rules.

Z.Medidov promises to pay the promised money from his own funds.

“It is not a pity that I spend personal money for good purposes. This spring I donated 1000 euros to the campaign” Maintain, doctors “organized by Andrius Tapinas and Laisvės TV. During the year, I donate (donate) from 1000 to 2000 euros to works of charity, support, various actions, initiatives ”, said the interlocutor.

The representative of the Working for the City Group is in fact one of the members of the Council that launched last year primarily to work with voters (office, post office, telephone, internet, transport, office rental).

The politician spent more in the third quarter of last year (the maintenance and repair of the car costs a lot, the total costs exceed a thousand euros), and throughout 2020 published approximately 3850 EUR.

In spring and early summer In this regard, Z. Medžidov was overtaken by a single member of the Council, on other occasions only two or six more were expelled.

Bribery is linked to a call to vote

In the words of Aistė Žilinskienė, a member of the Central Election Commission (CEC), the promise to pay an invitation to Facebook cannot be considered a bribe from the voters.

“Although the political electoral campaign period has not ended, bribery is considered a case related to the call to vote in the elections. Elections are currently being held for the post of mayor of Radviliškis only, he has not stood as a candidate or been nominated by any party. ” 15 minutes she said.

Warns that the group may be exploited during elections

But according to the lawyer, former CEC member Jonas Udris, in such a group, a politician sharing money from his own pocket can be seen as an attempt to bribe voters. You don’t even need an obvious request or commitment to vote for a particular person.

“It is not a crime for a state politician to be involved in similar activities, to form a community, from a formal legal point of view,” said the interlocutor. – If it forms a completely altruistic community, it is very nice. But practice shows that politicians, when the opportunity arises, tend to use those social platforms to gain a competitive advantage by reaching a certain audience. “

The law prohibits the direct or indirect purchase of voters’ votes, promising to return them after the election.

“Gone are the days when politicians gave money directly for votes, no one is that direct anymore,” he said. 15 minutes he said. – Now bribery is refined: series, events, online building communities … Forming such pseudo-communities is one way. By investing money in a cultural event, you form a circle of your followers. Then it becomes a good channel for the transmission of specific information and it becomes politics. man of influence. “

The series “Civil Servant”, in which Volodymyr Zelensky, who played the main role, was shown as president, was shown in Ukraine as a great example of such technologies.

Udris reviewed it from the first to the last series through the eyes of an election official.

For the first season, it was said to be a fun and good low-budget series.

The second season had already clearly shown what state governance would be like if a specific person were the president.

The third season, during the electoral campaign, showed what would happen if he did not win the elections.

There is no description of the Šiauliai group on Facebook, only some reproduction marks are provided (#Boiling life, #Sun City, # Šiauliai is shining). It is not clear who will moderate the activities in the group, what comments will be allowed, what will be removed.

According to J.Udris, a politician wants to unite citizens in a similar group, this must be done using the municipal advertising budget, clearly define the policy of moderation.

If a politician is loved in another way, the platoon of followers is formed naturally, there is nothing wrong with that. However, attracting people for money is equivalent to buying an audience and “has many signs of vote buying.”

Attracting people for money is equivalent to buying an audience and “has a lot of vote buying signals.”

Today, politicians no longer tilt voters to their side by bribing them outright, but instead gather an audience to which they then broadcast political publicity.

“There is a risk that by moderating the channel, a person will ‘turn off’ comments that are unfavorable to them, profile the information in a way that is favorable to them,” explained J. Dris. “Given that social networks predominate over classic ones in political communication, this could have a significant impact on electoral results.”

He noted that Lithuanian law does not yet foresee the necessary reaction to similar electoral technologies, so formally the behavior of Šiauliai politicians today is not a violation, but “such behavior must be evaluated by politicians when preparing the legal framework in the career. until the municipal elections “.