Romania Election: Russian Cyberattacks and TikTok Bot Campaign Propel Far-Right Candidate
Romania’s presidential election has been targeted by a significant influence campaign and cyberattacks, allegedly orchestrated by a state-sponsored actor, likely Russia. A far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu, experienced a sudden surge in popularity fueled by a coordinated social media campaign using paid influencers on TikTok, violating Romanian electoral law. Intelligence reports revealed the theft of electoral website data and approximately 85,000 attempted hacks targeting electoral systems. The released documents, prompting investigations and a potential impact on the upcoming second round of voting, highlight the scale of this interference attempt.
John Q. Hosedrinker