Kremlin targets TikTok over critical content
However, Fredheim pointed out that politicians remain relatively rare on such platforms. "Most often, it's the so-called influencers who resort to buying likes, who want to become known on Instagram or Facebook," he said, estimating that politicians make up only around 10% of the clients. "Often, it's also startups and businesses that want to appear to be bigger and more popular than they actually are."
On one of the promotional sites, DW uncovered a VKontakte profile belonging to Konstantin Malofeev, the Russian media czar and a confidant of President Vladimir Putin. In his posts, Malofeev —a supporter of Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine — lashes out against "the Kyiv junta" or the "godless EU" on a regular basis.