Romanian Premier Vows to Probe Rival’s TikTok Election Campaign

(Bloomberg) -- Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu called for an investigation into a campaign of his pro-Russian ultranationalist opponent following his shock defeat in the first round of the country’s presidential election.

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Ciolacu questioned the legality of the massive social media outreach of Calin Georgescu, whose unexpected victory on Sunday eliminated the premier from the race and prompted him to resign from the leadership of his Social Democratic party just days before the Dec. 1 parliamentary ballot.

Speaking to reporters in Bucharest on Tuesday, Ciolacu raised the prospect of foreign sources of funding for the Georgescu campaign, which included videos on social media platform TikTok. Georgescu, a fringe politician who ran as an independent, hasn’t addressed the accusation.

“There is a system and I’m not so sure how legal it is,” Ciolacu said, adding he was against censorship of social media platforms. “Such a successful campaign requires a lot of money.”

Georgescu refused to answer questions at a press conference on Tuesday. As a candidate, he insisted that he had no campaign funding and that he relied on unpaid volunteers. A campaign spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment on Ciolacu’s accusations.

The results of the ballot stunned observers, since Georgescu was polling at the bottom of the rankings just weeks before the election. But two million Romanians in the European Union nation of 19 million voted for the candidate, who has spoken out against aid for Ukraine, signaling the country’s pro-western consensus is more fragile than previously understood.

With Ciolacu out of the race, Georgescu will face center-right, pro-European opposition leader Elena Lasconi in a run-off on Dec. 8.

The prime minister’s concerns were echoed by European Parliament lawmaker Valerie Hayer of France, who on Tuesday called on TikTok Chief Executive Officer Chew Zi Shou to explain the role his platform has played in the Romanian election. Romania’s media watchdog also called on the European Commission to investigate the Chinese-owned company.

An investigation by G4media, a local news website, revealed that Georgescu’s profile was heavily promoted online and offline by a network of so-called “volunteers” who were encouraged to distribute his messages in exchange for “undisclosed rewards.”

In a video released on Monday, he rejected claims that he was an extremist, describing himself instead as a patriot who sees neither east nor west, “only Romania.” He advocated for the Black Sea country’s “neutrality” in the war in Ukraine.

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