Frans Timmermans, leader of GreenLeft–Labour (GroenLinks-PvdA), has become an unexpected online sensation ahead of the Dutch parliamentary elections: not in the Netherlands, but in Vietnam—where his Facebook videos are receiving thousands of likes from Vietnamese accounts.
The key question is whether this reflects purchased support or a digital misunderstanding. Research by Geenstijl shows that the majority of these interactions come from Vietnamese profiles. Such accounts can be grouped into three types:
- clearly fake profiles
- seemingly fake but more convincing profiles
- accounts that appear genuine.
It is not possible to determine precisely how many ‘likes’ come from fake accounts. Timmermans’ spokesperson told NieuwRechts that “they don’t know where Timmermans’ popularity in Vietnam comes from.” The spokesperson added that a report has been filed:
We reported it to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), which monitors foreign interference.
It remains unclear why Timmermans would attract attention in Vietnam. During his tenure as European Commissioner and later as Vice President of the European Commission, he traveled frequently, including to Asia, but no public data confirm extensive visits to Vietnam.
The possibility of purchased likes cannot be excluded, as it is relatively easy to flood a profile with paid interactions.
With just over a month remaining before the elections, the sudden surge of social media attention from Vietnam—recently lauded by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez—remains remarkable.
