The aftermath continues after the Tiktok profile Calin Georgescu shocked and received the most votes in the first round of elections on Sunday.
Among other things, he has said that Romania should engage and not challenge Russia, writes Reuters, and questioned the country’s position on Ukraine, which it currently supports.
His success has led authorities in Romania to suspect illegal election influence, and on Thursday the country’s National Security Council met to discuss the matter.
“According to documents presented, the members of the council have been able to see that cyber attacks were carried out with the aim of influencing the electoral process”, it is stated after the meeting in a statement according to Hot News Romania.
“Hostile acts”
It is not clear who is behind the cyber attacks. But it is noted that Romania, together with other NATO countries, have become “priority” targets for “hostile acts”.
“Especially in the Russian Federation there is a growing interest in influencing public opinion and social cohesion in Romania,” it writes.
Question marks around Tiktok algorithm
It has also occurred suspicions from the vice president of the country’s post and telecommunications board that Georgescu may have benefited improperly from Tiktok’s algorithms.
The issue was raised during Thursday’s meeting, where it was stated, without naming any names, that the platform’s algorithms improperly favored “one of the candidates”.
Among other things, Tiktok is accused of not having marked in its algorithms that the candidate in question was a political candidate, which should have given him greater exposure than his competitors.
The Court: The votes must be recounted
Tiktok has previously denied the accusations, but the National Security Council, which includes Romania’s President Klaus Johannis, is now demanding further investigation.
At the same time, the constitutional court in the country has decided that the votes in the first round of elections should be recounted, reports Reuters.