Romania. Defense Council: There were cyberattacks targeting the electoral process, TikTok gave preferential treatment to one of the candidates

The first round of the presidential elections in Romania Calin Georgescu, a virtually unknown far-right politician with anti-Western views and a supporter, unexpectedly won (with a result of almost 23%). Russia and Vladimir Putin. Experts attribute the sudden increase in its popularity to the campaign created by China TikTok.

In second place was the leader of the Union for the Salvation of Romania, Elena Lasconi.

READ ALSO: Shock in the elections. “Let's see what TikTok does about this”

On Thursday, the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) stated that the TikTok platform did not comply with regulations governing the transparency of the electoral process and that cyberattacks occurred that were intended to influence the presidential elections. It was added that one of the candidates was “preferentially treated” by this platform because it did not require him to mark the election content he posted there.

Also on Thursday, the Romanian Constitutional Court decided that a recount of votes cast in the first round of the presidential elections should be carried out.

READ ALSO: Shock in the first round of the presidential elections. The Romanian Constitutional Court decides on the recount of votes

Earlier on Wednesday, the president of the Romanian National Broadcasting Council (CNA), Monica Gubernat, announced that her institution would report to the European Commission the case of using the TikTok platform to promote this candidate in the elections.

READ ALSO: “Alarm sounds in Brussels.” Result in Romania 'probably a product of Russian money'

TikTok did not mark many of the posted materials as election-related. Moreover, although the website claims that it does not allow the publication of paid political advertising, EFOR's analysis shows that the platform allowed for the indirect promotion of political messages through influencers (without appropriate labeling), did not provide the transparency necessary to identify sponsors or sources of election content.

CNA asks the EC to initiate an official investigation into TikTok's compliance with the provisions of the DSA (EU Digital Services Act), especially in the field of algorithm transparency, to request an assessment of the threats to democracy related to the platform's operations in Romania, and to impose sanctions for identified violations and application of corrective measures.

It was also found that TikTok's actions had a significant impact on the presidential election in the first round, contributing to an unfair advantage of one candidate, manipulation of public opinion through unlabeled content and exploitation of young peoplewho constitute the majority of the platform's users (8.9 million people use it in Romania).