The country’s intelligence services report “aggressive Russian hybrid action” and the use of algorithms by some social networks to increase the popularity of the pro-Russian candidate.
Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense has declassified documents from Romania’s intelligence services related to the election campaign of far-right presidential race leader Kelin Georgescu. Radio Liberty’s Romanian service reported this on Wednesday.
According to the documents, Romania was the target of “aggressive Russian hybrid actions,” specifically against the Central Electoral Bureau and the Permanent Electoral Authority, during the day and night of the November 24 presidential election.
Also, according to intelligence, the TikTok service informed the Romanian authorities about the discovery of a network of accounts associated with the Russian state media Sputnik, the network’s target audience is users in Romania and Moldova.
According to Romanian intelligence, Georgescu’s aggressive campaign was carried out using social media algorithms, which allowed him to increase his popularity. The active phase of the campaign to manipulate public opinion began approximately two weeks before voting day.
Candidate Georgescu officially declared “zero” expenses, but it turned out that one of the TikTok accounts, bogpr, owned by Romanian citizen Bogdan Pesir, financed the campaign with more than one million euros, the publication said. TikTok confirmed $381,000 in payments for the period from October 24 to November 24, sent to users who took part in Georgescu’s promotion.
Users received rewards through the FameUp platform, as well as through the South African company FA Agency, which offered a thousand euros for video distribution.
A day after the first round of Romania’s presidential election, Radio Liberty’s Romanian service drew attention to Georgescu’s thousands of followers on TikTok.
Let’s recall that in Romania, the pro-Russian far-right politician Calin Georgescu won the presidential election in the first round. The second round of voting, where he will face Elena Lasconi, will take place on Sunday, December 8th.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.