Romania’s Supreme Court intervened decisively and completely annulled the first round of the presidential election, which was overshadowed by accusations of Russian interference, calling for the whole process to be repeated. The judges took into account complaints that the candidate Gheorgescu was favored by TikTok algorithms and paid advertisements. The electoral result of the first round of the presidential election had fallen like a bomb, not only in Romania.

The largely unknown presidential candidate Kalin Gheorgescu does not belong to any political party, has appeared in the polls at negligible rates and has not participated in any televised duels. But he has been omnipresent on social media, especially on TikTok, where his channel has 520,000 followers. followers and 5.7 million likes.

Millions of people and potential voters watched Kalin Giorgescu’s election campaign videos. In these he not only criticized traditional parties and “systemic” politicians, often with false claims. He presented himself as a judo athlete or astride a horse, like his role model, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Many observers estimate that social networking platforms, and especially TikTok, played an important role in Gheorghescu’s electoral success. TikTok is extremely popular in Romania. About 9 million of the country’s 19 million residents use it, most of them young.

Did Kalin Gheorgescu have an advantage?

Despite the fact that top Romanian politicians have an account on TikTok, no one has managed to reach as many people as Calin Gheorgescu. 33% of young people between 18 and 24 voted for him, despite his extreme theories, such as that the The 1969 moon landing was a lie, staged in Hollywood.

In response, the Romanian Electoral Authority accused TikTok of giving an advantage to Calin Gheorgescu. Before the election, he had informed the Chinese platform that candidates should clearly state that they are vying for the people’s vote, as well as disclose their sources of funding. In the case of the far-right politician, TikTok did not apply any rules favoring him over other candidates, the Electoral Authority complains. As a result, the Romanian media watchdog asked the EU to open an investigation against TikTok.

For its part, TikTok rejects all accusations, pointing out that it removed tens of thousands of fake accounts and millions of fake likes and followers. In addition, it claims that it did not detect any evidence of an attempt to exert covert influence from Romania itself or from abroad. German communicator and TikTok expert Markus Bosch points out a contradiction in what the platform claims and asks DW: “How is it possible that a large number of accounts and likes were deleted, while there were no suspicions of attempts to exert influence?”

No one can outrun TikTok anymore

For American linguist Adam Aleksik, the main problem lies in social media algorithms, which are no longer based on the number of followers. Which means that users don’t end up following those who follow, but those who make the most noise.

“TikTok is, however, the leading app of our time, which means that many topics and trends start there and then appear on other platforms,” continues TikTok expert Marcus Bosch: “Societies, politicians and platforms must to realize that these threats and attempts to influence exist and will exist, and as a consequence everyone should become more resilient, more prepared and willing to take countermeasures in the context of strategic communication.’

Editor: Stefanos Georgakopoulos