Celin Giorgescu, a far-right presidential candidate in Romania, has found himself at the center of a scandal in which he allegedly used bots on TikTok to manipulate the electorate. His surprise success in the first round of voting with 22.9% of the vote raised suspicions of fraud on social media.
Candidate Georgescu, who was previously little known in Romania, successfully used the TikTok platform to quickly spread his content to voters. Videos of the candidate were played to dramatic music, including one showing him in traditional dress on a white horse. In the weeks leading up to the election, the post had more than 100 million views, a staggering figure for a country with 8 million TikTok users.
However, Georgescu’s campaign has been criticized for using bots to artificially boost the popularity of his videos, with TikTok’s algorithms allegedly promoting his content, while other candidates’ videos were filtered out en masse. This caused concern for the Romanian authorities, who appealed to EU regulators to intervene.
TikTok denied allegations of bias against Mr. Georgesek and said his account followed the same rules as other candidates. However, Romania’s High Defense Council said Georgescu’s video was not labeled as political advertising, contrary to local law.
Despite major scandals and the potential for social media manipulation, Georgescu’s success is a testament to changing voter behavior and the influence of online content. His campaign demonstrates how new platforms can turn the tide of an election race, but at the same time calls into question the integrity of the democratic process. The answers to these challenges depend on the readiness of regulators to counter disinformation and manipulation in social networks.
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