How Telegram Reacted to the Push for a Euro Referendum

Since its launch in 2013, Telegram has been entirely free from centralised moderation, making it a popular channel for the launch of disinformation campaigns.

The referendum proposed by the president on Bulgaria's entry into the Eurozone unsurprisingly received wide coverage in traditional media, but reactions in newer information channels reveal micro-trends with the potential to grow into full-scale campaigns.

This report was generated by Identrics AI and validated by our experts.

1. Meta

On 9 May 2025, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced plans to propose a national referendum on adopting the euro, despite a prior Constitutional Court ruling deeming such a vote unconstitutional, following demands from far-right parties. The move triggered sharp political debate and public reaction nationwide.

The Telegram discussion on the euro referendum in the first six days following the president's announcement covered 384 posts from 68 channels and 92 authors. The average post length of 176 words suggests predominantly well-argued posts for a social network.

There were 49 internal links (t.me), indicating moderate network activity. External sources were mainly websites (90 links) and social media (23 links), predominantly YouTube, revealing coordination with video platforms.

2. Who is speaking

Activity in the euro referendum discussion on Telegram was spread across 68 channels, but real influence was concentrated in a small group. A familiar pattern emerged: a handful of leading sources set the tone, while many low-activity channels formed a "long tail".

Channels such as "Supporters of Revival Chat" and Informiran.net had high post counts but limited impact due to low views and reactions. Conversely, channels like "WE - People Truth Unity" (renamed ZOV for Referendum) and "Together Varna" achieved over 80% of the total visibility with less than 20% of the posts.

At the author level, the presence of personal accounts (e.g. activist with pro-Russian leanings Sarnela Vodenicharova and journalist/podcaster Todor Belenski) shows a hybrid model between anonymous collectives and publicly visible profiles. These authors often posted across multiple channels, indicating either coordinated activity or organic popularity within aligned groups.

3. Emotions and reactions

Types of reactions

Reactions on Telegram serve a memetic function. The 👍 reaction prevailed as the default and may be excluded from deeper analysis. Frequent 🤔, 🤡 and 🤣 indicated ironic criticism. Reaction patterns also include emoticons that can be read as signs of dog-whistling.

Visual style of the top 5 channels by visibility

The five most visible channels shared a common visual strategy combining national symbols, nostalgic aesthetics, and populist memes.

• „НИЕ - наРОД ИСТИНА ЕДИНеНие" (WE - People Truth Unity) - the avatar features elements of the Bulgarian flag, often paired with stylised lettering evoking historical manuscripts or calligraphy. It projects authenticity and the "voice of the people" against political elites. The pagan symbol of the god Tangra is placed above the EU flag, signalling direct opposition.
• „ЗаЕдно Варна" (Together Varna) - graphics combine sea waves, the sun and national flags, suggesting a local civic movement with patriotic overtones. A warm, earthy palette creates a sense of familiarity and trust, in contrast to more aggressive alternative channels.
• „Хъшове Chat" (Hushove Chat) - references the 19th-century Bulgarian revolutionaries with retro-styled imagery and independence-era symbols. Historical poster motifs blend with modern memes to evoke a "roused national conscience".
• „Za ПраVдa България Chat" (Za Pravda Bulgaria) - the central "Z" echoes its use as a pro-Russian emblem linked to the invasion of Ukraine, alongside the black-and-orange St George's ribbon. High-contrast red, black and white tones plus graffiti-style elements position the channel as an "alternative voice of truth".
• „ЗаЕдно… в конспирациите Chat" (Together… in Conspiracies) - ironic, meme-based visuals with nods to the Illuminati, UFOs and the Matrix. Provocative imagery softened by self-mockery and humour.

4. Inside Telegram

The network of internal Telegram links had a hub-and-spoke structure, with profile SMIlanova at the centre. Peripheral channels (e.g. Behind the Government Chat, TARLEZH Chat, SMilanova Periscope) linked directly to it but not to one another. This suggests some degree of connectedness and centralised communication: channels act mainly as distributors to SMIlanova, not as autonomous nodes.

The visualisation illustrates mutual amplification: many peripheral channels directed traffic and attention to the central source, which likely consolidated and coordinated the main narrative. Such architecture is typical of hierarchical networks with centralised content control.

Multiple channels engaged in synchronised publishing: identical content appeared simultaneously across three or more channels, sometimes posted at the exact same second. During the six-day monitoring period, we documented 24 such coordination events involving 36 different channels and chats. The most striking instance occurred on 9 May, when eleven channels published the identical message within a two-minute window.

5. Outside Telegram

Links to social media

YouTube accounted for 95.8% of all external social links, reaffirming its role as a leading platform for in-depth video content (analyses, interviews). The minimal Facebook presence (4.2%) suggests targeting a different audience or a specific communication strategy.

YouTube links played a key role in providing external content, adding visual context and lending authority. Even though they are predominantly shared on Telegram simply as URLs, the platform auto-generates thumbnails that channels use strategically.

Links to websites

The site faktibg.com supplied over 30% of all external links, indicating trust in local alternative media. Evidence suggests this site is maintained by the staff behind informiran.net, another known disinformation hub. The inclusion of established outlets like btvnovinite.bg and bnr.bg appears to be a strategic move in an effort to boost credibility and appeal to wider audiences.

6. Conclusion

The analysis of Telegram discourse around the proposed euro adoption referendum in Bulgaria reveals an information ecosystem with a clear hierarchical structure and concentrated visibility. Although many channels and authors create an illusion of pluralism, real impact is wielded by a small number of central hubs that spin the narrative and coordinate its distribution.

Legitimisation tactics rely on both internal referrals among trusted channels and external links to YouTube and alternative news sites, which strengthen credibility. Visual culture - from emoticons to video thumbnails - is carefully chosen to blend emotional appeal with familiar formats, to enable a smooth transmission and reception of the message.

Ultimately, the structure and dynamics of this information space exhibit apparent but controlled decentralisation: multiple entry points leading to a unified narrative delivered across various visual and social media channels.