Documents declassified by the Romanian presidency show a “coordinated guerrilla” on the video platform to increase the popularity of Calin Georgescu, who came first in the first round to everyone's surprise. The shadow of the Kremlin hangs over this campaign of destabilization.
The presidential election in Romania, the second round of which was to take place on Sunday, will finally be rescheduled. The Romanian Constitutional Court annulled, Friday December 6, “the entire electoral process concerning the election of the president” from this Eastern European country. This decision comes after a campaign marked by numerous controversies (breakthrough by an unknown candidate, new counting of votes, fears of cancellation of the vote, etc.) after Calin Georgescu came first in the first round. The pro-Russian far-right candidate is suspected of having benefited from serious manipulations on the social network TikTok while the shadow of the Kremlin loomed over this destabilization campaign. Franceinfo takes stock of these suspicions.
The Constitutional Court annulled the election
The Constitutional Court annulled “the entire electoral process regarding the election of the President of Romania”without explaining the reasons for this cancellation. “The electoral process (…) will resume in full, the government will set a new date for the election (…), as well as a new timetable for completing the necessary tasks”she wrote in a press release. On Monday, the institution validated the results of the first round after a recount of the votes.
An “aggressive promotion” was made on TikTok
Documents declassified by the Romanian presidency detailed allegations against far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, who is pro-Russian and opposed aid to Ukraine. According to the authorities, the data obtained “reveal an aggressive promotional campaign, in violation of electoral legislation, and an exploitation of algorithms to increase the popularity of Calin Georgescu in an accelerated manner”. This operation of “coordinated guerrilla” on TikTok made it possible, according to Romanian documents, to significantly boost the notoriety of the former senior official. Calin Georgescu appeared at less than 1% of voting intentions in the polls at the beginning of November and he ultimately collected more than 22% of the votes in the first round, on November 24.
(News revealed that the social network TikTok has been “flooded” content about it.
An investigation carried out by the Romanian site G4media revealed thatue the Chinese social network has been “flooded” of content about him, which contributed to the rapid rise in his popularity. The Romanian secret services have identified “25 000 TikTok accounts” directly associated with his campaign, which became “extremely active two weeks before the election date”.
And “important network” of influencers was thus taken advantage of, for the most part without their knowledge. Around a hundred have been identified, totaling more than eight million subscribers. “These influencers didn't mention his name, but the comments under their videos were flooded with messages favorable to Georgescu”explain Victoria Olari, a researcher specializing in Romania, in The World.
According to the Romanian authorities,Accounts using logos of official institutions have also been created “in order to make it appear that Mr. Georgescu had the support” of these organizations. The mobilization on the TikTok video platform also seems to have been orchestrated since the encrypted messaging application Telegram.
Russia denies any interference
Declassified documents from the Romanian presidency claim that some accounts that participated in this operation “have previously been involved in promoting pro-Russian, anti-NATO and anti-Ukraine messages”. “Declassified reports demonstrate significant and unprecedented external interference directed against democratic institutions and processes”explains the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
Neighboring Ukraine, Romania has also detected more than 85,000 cyberattacks, “including election day”launched in around thirty countries “and exploiting vulnerabilities in electoral computer systems” to destabilize the democratic process, according to documents from the Romanian presidency. The latter thus estimates that “the modus operandi and the scale” point to a state actor.
“We have informed our allies of this attempted external interference and we will take all necessary measures to protect democracy, national security and sovereignty.”
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairsin a press release
“We firmly reject all hostile attacks, which we consider to be completely unfounded”replied the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, before the decision of the Constitutional Court to cancel the vote. She denounced “increasingly absurd accusations” against Moscow. Questioned by AFP, Calin Georgescu for his part declared “have no evidence that a coordinated campaign has taken place on the platform to date”.
The EU had warned the social network
The European Commission announced on Thursday that it would intensify its monitoring of the video platform “in the context of the Romanian elections”after receiving information about possible interference from Russia. In a press release, the European executive demands TikTok “freezing and preservation” linked data “the real or foreseeable systemic risks that its service could pose to electoral processes and civic debate in the EU”.
“TikTok retains internal documents and information regarding the design and operation of its recommendation systems, as well as how it manages the risks of intentional manipulation.”
The European Commissionin a press release
In response, the Chinese social network promised to cooperate with the European Commission. “We look forward to establishing the facts in response to speculation and inaccurate information”declared a spokesperson for the platform, while the group has already denied the accusations against it.
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