Romania’s court cancelled presidential election results due to disinformation impact on TikTok

Investigations into the impact of disinformation and manipulation on video platforms and social media networks linked to campaigns without indicating the source of funding and not labeled as political advertising led to the cancellation of the results of the first round of the presidential election. The Constitutional Court of Romania decided to cancel the results and hold new elections.

Constitutional Court explained its decision to cancel election results

The Constitutional Court of Romania has published the reasoning for its unprecedented decision to cancel the results of the first round of the presidential election and launch a new election.

In a 10-page document, the Romanian judges explain that after reviewing the documents presented by the special services at a meeting of the Supreme National Defense Council, they saw that the election process had issues from the beginning and that these inconsistencies and violations “distorted the free and fair nature of the vote and equal opportunities for candidates.”

In particular, the court pointed to the manipulation of voters’ opinions and the distortion of equal opportunities for candidates through “the nontransparent use, in violation of electoral law, of digital technologies and AI in campaigning, as well as through campaign financing from undeclared sources.” 

Court: “Political advertising can become a vector of disinformation”

According to the judges, the freedom of choice of voters implies that they should be adequately informed before making their choice and be protected from unlawful and disproportionate influence on their behavior as voters. 

“Political advertising can become a vector of disinformation, in particular when […] its political nature is not disclosed, when it comes from sponsors outside the EU, and when it uses targeted techniques… Interference by state or non-state actors and their conduct of electoral propaganda or disinformation campaigns must be excluded,” the court stated. 

The text goes on to specifically state that voters were misinformed by an election campaign in which one of the candidates gained an advantage through aggressive promotion, bypassing national legislation, and abusing social media algorithms. The platform failed to label this campaign as political advertising as required by law, and the candidate benefited from preferential treatment, which the court believes distorted voters’ opinions.

“The use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence by candidates or competitors, political parties, their supporters, or sympathizers must be transparent to guarantee the integrity and impartiality of elections. Otherwise, voters are prevented from forming an opinion about candidates and choices and may be misinformed,” the court said, emphasizing that campaign methods should be checked and violations should be punished.

TikTok influenced victory of far-right presidential candidate – Romanian intelligence

On December 2, the Constitutional Court of Romania recognized the first round of the presidential election, where the anti-Western and pro-Russian ultranationalist Calin Georgescu sensationally won.

On December 6, after an emergency meeting, the Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round in the context of having received many new requests for such a call.

The judges of the Constitutional Court made the decision following an emergency meeting for consultations regarding numerous new requests to annul the results of the presidential election.

The requests referred to documents declassified by the Supreme National Defense Council, according to which the campaign of pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu was boosted by a coordinated manipulation from abroad.

Romanian intelligence’s declassified documents revealed that TikTok influenced the victory of far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential elections in Romania.

The document from the Romanian Information Service, as quoted by media, says that the data obtained indicate an aggressive promotion campaign bypassing national legislation and using the algorithms of “some social networks” to rapidly increase the popularity of Georgescu. The campaign began to expand about two weeks before the election.

Romania’s presidential election and the far-right candidate

Populist, anti-European, and pro-Russian sentiments have increased in Romania, and propaganda has played a significant role in this. Ultra-nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu sensationally finished first in the first round. According to the results, pro-Russian ultra-nationalist Calin Georgescu and pro-EU liberal candidate Elena Lasconi had to compete in the second round.

This week, Georgescu made statements that if he wins, he will ban the continuation of Ukrainian grain exports through Romania and further military aid to Ukraine. The EU has decided to tighten control over TikTok, as Romanian intelligence declassified documents on platform’s influence on elections.