'Did TikTok influence Romania's presidential election?' December 7, 2024

In November, a little-known far-right radical took the most votes in the first round of Romania's presidential election. Now, amid reports TikTok played a role in the far-right win, the results have been annulled.

Although other leading Romanian politicians are present on TikTok, none have managed to reach anywhere near as many people as Georgescu. The upshot, however, was that just under a third of 18- to 24-year-olds voted for Georgescu.

However, the electoral authority accused TikTok of giving Georgescu an advantage. Before the vote, it had instructed the platform that presidential candidates must be identified as such and must disclose their financial sources.

It said that in the case of Georgescu, TikTok did not enforce this rule, thereby giving him an advantage over the other candidates. Romania's media watchdog has called on the EU to investigate the video-sharing platform.

TikTok has rejected all allegations, pointing to the fact that it removed tens of thousands of fake accounts and millions of fake likes and followers leading up to the election.

The social media service also claimed that it had found no indication of covert interference from either inside Romania or abroad.