Romania asks EU to investigate TikTok after Călin Georgescu’s election victory

This article was originally published in English

The meteoric rise of Hug Georgescuextremist candidate who won the first round of the Romanian presidential election on Sunday, is a first in Europe.

While warnings against anti-Western disinformation on social networks are increasing in Europe, the unexpected victory of this little-known nationalist candidate is today raising many questions in Bucharest and Brussels.

Romanian authorities ask European Commission to investigate TikTok for violating EU Digital Services Act after the massive online influence campaign in favor of the pro-Russian and anti-EU presidential candidate.

“Suddenly, TikTok users saw more and more videos of this candidate in their feed, in the content recommendation area”explains Valentin Jucan, vice-president of the Romanian Audiovisual Council, to Euronews Romania.

“And that’s our question: Is this risk to the public of the TikTok system natural? Did its algorithms work naturally or did TikTok deliberately change its recommendations?”.

The “Messiah of TikTok”

Already nicknamed the “Messiah of Tiktok”, Călin Georgescu says Romania must be neutral and war in Ukraine does not exist.

Praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, candidate calls EU the enemy of Romanians, calls Romanian anti-Semitic WWII collaborationist leaders ‘heroes’ and says COVID-19 does not exist . He also claims to have received from God the mission to save Romania.

“We see how democracies are under attack before our eyes, how social media, especially TikTok, has become a key battleground for voters. Clicks trump content”says Valérie Hayer, leader of the Renew Europe group, who considers that “Romania is a wake-up call”.

While demonstrations broke out in the main cities of Romania after the first round of the presidential election, former president Traian Basescu speaks of a “major failure of national security” and asks the secret services to explain the victory of the one he calls the “robot candidate”.

“This guy didn’t meet citizens, he didn’t travel the country, he didn’t campaign, only AI-made messages put him in the lead in the first round”Traian Basescu told Euronews.

“The security structures take no responsibility when we don’t know who made these messages. Are we not electing a president based on the intelligence of a robot?”

“The wrong tool for the wrong purpose”

Călin Georgescu’s rise has gone relatively unnoticed in the national media and political polls in Romania.

“The type of message Călin Georgescu is sending out is nothing substantial but it speaks to people’s deepest fears and grievances; this is what creates this loyalty among his supporters”said Dragoș Pîslaru, co-president of the Renewing Romania’s European Project (Reper) party, to Euronews.

For Dragos Stanca, the founder of the Ethical Media Alliance of Romania, social media is not designed to disseminate reliable political messages.

“The social media algorithm is not designed for better information, it is designed so that e-commerce players can sell their products at the lowest possible price”he told Euronews.

“Whether it’s a shoe, a politician, a brand, or even a dangerous ideology, it’s the same for the algorithm”adds Dragos Stanca. “It is time that we realize that we are using the wrong tool for the wrong purpose and that our democracies are in danger if we continue on this path”.