Romanian election shock: Social media platform under spotlight after surprise result
Far-right candidate unexpectedly wins first round of Romanian presidential election causing nation-wide reaction. Government officials call for investigation into social-media platforms role in the electoral process
In a un-expected turn of events Calin Georgescu a far-right independent candidate got first place in Romanian presidential elections first round on 11/24/24 (which was quite shocking since he had less than 10% in polls before)
The 62-year old candidate who got lots of support from young people and citizens living outside Romania used tik-tok as his main campaign tool. This success made officials worried — Romanian Supreme Defence Council plans to meet next thursday to check if social media creates risks for national security
The run-off between Georgescu and centrist Elena Lasconi is coming up on 12/8/24; meanwhile Romaniaʼs media watchdog thinks something isnt right: they asked EU Commission to check how tik-tok affected voting patterns. Council vice-head Valentin-Alexandru Jucan believes the platforms algorithms helped one candidate more than others
I do not want to leave NATO I do not want to leave the European Union. What I want is to take a stance not to kneel
The candidates team says they spent zero money and used only volunteers help but two other candidates dont buy it — they asked supreme court to cancel results because Georgescu didnt show where his campaign money came from. People in Bucharest and other big cities went to streets to show their dis-approval: they dont want someone who praised 1930ʼs fascist leaders and talks good about Russia
TikTok quickly denied all accusations saying that most candidates used their platform and winners also used other social-media tools to reach voters. EU Commission confirmed they got the investigation request and will check if rules were broken
