Romania’s President Convenes Defense Council to Address Cyber Election Interference Risk

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis convened a meeting on Thursday to address concerns surrounding the dissemination of political content online, with TikTok coming under scrutiny. Though the president did not explicitly mention the platform, it has faced growing pressure to explain its role in the recent presidential election. In the first round of voting held on Sunday, ultranationalist and pro-Russia-leaning independent candidate Călin Georgescu secured a shocking victory, fueled in part by a sudden surge in his popularity on TikTok.

Romania is bracing for a parliamentary election set to take place this Sunday, which will be followed by the presidential runoff on December 8.

Georgescu has denied any backing from Russia, instead accusing the country’s main political parties of orchestrating a campaign against him. He alleges this is retaliation after their candidates were soundly defeated in Sunday’s vote.