French institute VIGINUM releases report on digital interference in Romania's presidential elections

The French service for vigilance and protection against foreign digital interference VIGINUM published a study on February 4 on how the TikTok algorithm was manipulated in the Romanian presidential campaign in favor of Călin Georgescu, Hotnews.ro reported.

Some of the pro-Georgescu influencers were paid by companies with ties to Ukraine. Authorities in Paris fear that similar methods of manipulation risk being used in France.

The existence of a TikTok algorithm manipulation campaign can be demonstrated by the fact that the number of subscribers and views on Călin Georgescu's TikTok account tripled between November 10-24, 2024, and the hashtag #calingeorgescu recorded 73.2 million views in just seven days.

"The explosive increase in the candidate's visibility on the platform seems to have been achieved thanks to a sophisticated astroturfing campaign, consisting in the coordinated manipulation of the recommendation algorithm by massively publishing videos and comments containing certain hashtags and keywords. In fact, this campaign was based, on the one hand, on the coordinated action of networks of accounts and, on the other hand, on the exploitation of the popularity of influencers who were paid in a disguised manner," VIGINUM experts said.

"The use of these modes of operation shows that the campaign's authors were well aware of the specific dynamics of the platform and that they perfectly mastered the methods of circumventing moderation policies," they added.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Bogdan Buda)