Sudden popularity on TikTok could deliver Romania into the hands of the ultranationalist Călin Georgescu. For this reason, both in the country and in Brussels, investigations have been opened to better understand the role of social media in the sudden success of the politician, until recently a total unknown to the Romanian population, as well as to the country’s political scene. Bucharest has asked the European authorities to launch a formal investigation into non-compliance with EU rules and has said it intends to block the contents of the Chinese platform, accused of having promoted videos published by Georgescu, considered pro-Russian, through its algorithm far right and NATO sceptic.
On 8 December Georgescu is expected to challenge the centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi in the run-off, who has in the meantime received the support of the liberals. In order to avoid Georgescu’s rise to power, the socialists could also support it. Meanwhile, on 28 November the Constitutional Court ordered the recount of the votes cast in the first round of the presidential elections on 24 November. The judges thus accepted the appeal presented by two other candidates competing in the November 24 consultation.
The Brussels investigation into TikTok
The European Commission will hold a summit with Romanian authorities and TikTok, after Bucharest threatened to suspend the Chinese-owned social media platform. The algorithm would have played a decisive role in the extraordinary result obtained in the first round of the presidential elections by the pro-Russian ultranationalist Călin Georgescu. Much of the success is attributed to his sudden popularity on TikTok. Romanian authorities have asked Brussels to launch a formal investigation into the application under the EU’s enforced social media rules. Valérie Hayer, head of the liberal Renew Europe group, asked at a press conference that the CEO of TikTok appear before the European Parliament to answer questions.
The accusations against TikTok over Georgescu’s success
Pavel Popescu, vice president of Romania’s National Authority for Management and Regulation of Communications (Ancom), said on November 27 that he would start the “official process” to block TikTok in the country. Popescu wrote a message about this on his Facebook account, which was deactivated shortly after. Popescu claims that “thousands of accounts” on TikTok have helped amplify Georgescu’s message. These accounts were “sponsored by sources outside the Romanian state”, said the head of Ancom.
In Romania the reformists team up to prevent the victory of the pro-Russian Georgescu
“Unfortunately, they led to the result we see today,” he told local media. According to him, the platform ignored the concerns expressed by Ancom even before the vote and “turned its back on communications with the institutions of the Romanian state”. The country’s president Klaus Iohannis held a meeting with top national security officials on November 28 to discuss possible risks “generated by the actions of state and non-state cyber actors.” Even if TikTok was not explicitly named, the underlying reference to the application is clear.
TikTok’s response to the Georgescu accusations
TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has rejected allegations that the platform was used to influence Romanian elections. “To date we have found no evidence of a covert influence operation on our platform in recent weeks for the ongoing presidential elections in Romania, nor any evidence of foreign influence,” the platform said in a letter addressed to Romanian authorities. The company added that it had removed over 150 accounts linked to Georgescu and over 650 accounts linked to other candidates. “Highly speculative reports about the Romanian elections are inaccurate and misleading,” spokesman Paolo Ganino wrote in a statement.
The decisive date of December 8th for the presidential elections in Romania
The European Commission confirmed that it had received a request to open “a formal investigation into TikTok’s role in the Romanian elections” under the Digital Services Law. A date has not yet been set for the roundtable between representatives of Brussels, Romanian authorities and TikTok officials, but it is expected to take place before the second round of the presidential elections set for December 8. On that occasion Georgescu, skeptical of the EU and NATO and with pro-Russian tendencies, should face the reformist Elena Lasconi in the run-off. Experts believe that a Georgescu victory could have extremely strong repercussions throughout the European bloc. the decision to recount the votes decided by the Constitutional Court risks calling the entire electoral process into question.
