TikTok Takes Down Three Influence Campaigns Amid Romania’s Elections

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TikTok announced it had disrupted several networks involved in spreading political campaigns on Friday, November 29. These actions occurred in the critical period between the first round of Romania’s presidential elections and the parliamentary vote held on Sunday, December 1.

Among the campaigns, two originated within Romania. One consisted of 78 accounts with 1,781 followers, aiming to promote ultranationalist and far-right candidate Călin Georgescu. The other, a smaller network of 12 accounts, attempted to boost independent candidate Mircea Geoană.

“These were very, very small networks targeting a Romanian audience,” explained Brie Pegum, TikTok’s global head of product for authenticity and transparency.

Another campaign involved a network linked to Sputnik, with 11 accounts totaling nearly 140,000 followers. TikTok clarified that this takedown was part of its regular monitoring efforts and not necessarily related to Romania specifically. While Sputnik is banned on the platform due to its history of interference campaigns, TikTok noted that new accounts are frequently created to bypass these restrictions.

This wasn’t TikTok’s first intervention in Romanian politics. Back in September, the platform disrupted a network of 22 accounts that aimed to spread misinformation targeted at Romanian audiences and promote narratives critical of the country’s government.

TikTok has increasingly come under scrutiny regarding its role in Romania’s elections. In the first round of the presidential election, ultranationalist and far-right candidate Călin Georgescu secured a surprise victory—partly fueled by a dramatic surge in the visibility of his content on TikTok in the campaign’s final days.

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