The recent Romanian election presents a fascinating case study of modern digital election interference, with many ramifications, but particularly through social media manipulation.
What’s even more interesting is the ongoing development that seems to never end.
While researching the cybersecurity aspect of the incident, the analysis went touched a bit of the political side as well.
The Manufactured Viral Campaign
The striking aspect was the sophisticated manipulation of TikTok’s platform. Candidate Calin Georgescu’s sudden rise was engineered through a network of 25,000 coordinated accounts.
What makes this operation particularly noteworthy is its technical sophistication, as mentioned by SRI: each account operated from a unique IP address, making traditional bot detection nearly impossible.
Following the Money Trail
Despite Georgescu’s claims of running a zero-budget campaign, financial investigations revealed a different story. Through the FameUP platform, approximately $381,000 was spent between October and November 2024. This funding went toward a coordinated influencer campaign, with individual influencers receiving up to €1,000 per pre-made video share.
Technical Infrastructure Attacks
Beyond social media manipulation, the election faced direct infrastructure challenges. The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) documented over 85,000 cyber attacks, along with breach on several institutions website.
Broader Implications
This case demonstrates how modern election interference combines social media manipulation with traditional cyber attacks. The operation’s sophistication – from unique IP addresses to multi-layered influencer campaigns – suggests state-level resources and planning.
The investigation is still ongoing and hopefully we will learn more.
The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) faces its first major test with this incident.
