site.btaFrench Report Looks into Manipulation of Social Media Algorithms to Interfere in Romanian Presidential Elections

A report by VIGINUM, the French organization for fighting foreign disinformation, says that the decision for cancelling the Romanian presidential elections in November 2024 was a turning point in gaining awareness of the impact of information manipulation in the social media. The report, which is quoted by Digi24 and Adevarul, shows how the TikTok algorithm was manipulated in the Romanian presidential campaign, in favor of Calin Georgescu.

According to the report, while the elections in Georgia and Moldova in late 2024 were the target of hybrid attacks, the presidential elections in Romania saw a more complex digital campaign including pre-positioned ecosystems and attracting opinion-makers.

In the preamble to the study, VIGINUM justifies investigating the Romanian elections by saying that it must analyze online manipulation in other contexts as well, in order to prevent digital interference with similar methods in France.

"This manipulation highlights, on the one hand, the ease with which, currently, the visibility of a topic on a social network like TikTok can be imposed on users, without the platform moderating the content presented or considering it false, and, on the other hand, the role and vulnerability of influencers, exposed to an increasing risk of manipulation by hostile actors," the report says as quoted by Digi24.

In December last year, the European Commission launched a formal investigation against the social platform TikTok for threatening to interfere in elections in EU member states. The investigation was promped by the events in Romania and a report by local security services, which showed external interference and manipulation of public attitudes to the November 24 presidential elections through TikTok.

Now the EC has to check what are the possibilities of concerted manipulation or automated use of the TikTok service, the rules of the political advertising platform and paid political content.

On February 4, the second day of her visit to Bucharest, European Commission Executive Vice-President Roxana Minzatu, who is responsible for social rights, competences, quality jobs and training, commented that she did not know whether the investigation would be concluded before the country's upcoming presidential elections in May, but did not rule out the possibility of taking more drastic decisions and suspending the platform in Romania if there was clear evidence.