Romania hit by major election influence campaign and Russian cyber-attacks

Vocabulary: 315, Words: 597

1Authorities in Romania have revealed details of what appears to be a major attempt to interfere in the country’s presidential elections using the social media platform TikTok, and with a series of cyber-attacks.

2Romania's domestic intelligence service says there are signs the effort was "co-ordinated by a state-sponsored actor".

3Calin Georgescu, a far-right Nato-sceptic who has previously praised Vladimir Putin, was almost unknown in Romania until he won the first round of voting in the presidential elections two weeks ago.

4Now Romanian intelligence says his sudden and surprise surge in popularity is down to a "highly organised" and "guerrilla" campaign on social media, sharing identical messaging and using influencers.

5They say it was conducted from "external locations" to bypass controls.

6A separate intelligence assessment says that Romania has been identified as an "enemy state" by Moscow and a priority target for what it calls "aggressive hybrid actions".

7The politically explosive information – which has landed just days before the second round of voting - comes from declassified documents published this evening by the outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis.

8They reveal how paid content supporting Georgescu was promoted on TikTok, without being marked as election campaigning – in violation of the platform’s own rules and of Romanian electoral law. 9Other candidates’ content was subject to closer controls.

10Georgescu has always said he spent "zero" on election promotion, denying he was even campaigning.

11But the intelligence documents identify one TikTok account which they say made payments of $381,000 (£299,819; €361,872) in just one month from 24 October – to users who were promoting Georgescu.

12Georgescu claims the release of the documents is a coordinated attempt to block his candidacy.

13“I think it’s the first time in the history of the world when a state is organising an action against a candidate to stop him from running,” he said in a TV interview on Wednesday.

14He also denied knowing any of the influencers or funders mentioned in the reports.

15The documents released in this highly unusual move were all papers drawn up for a meeting of the security council following the first round of the presidential election.

16They also reveal that access data for electoral websites was stolen from legitimate users and published online “on cyber-crime platforms originating from Russia”.

17Separately, the intelligence agencies report some 85,000 attempted hacks in an attempt to access electoral data and change content – including on election day. 18The report says the cyber-attackers used advanced methods to remain anonymous, working in a way and on a scale "typical of state-sponsored actors".

19An investigation is ongoing to discover who was responsible and whether there was any impact on the election.

20Russia has denied any interference in Romania's election process.

21Far-right frontrunner Georgescu is due to face reformist candidate Elena Lasconi in a second round vote on Sunday.

22Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu – who came 3rd in the presidential race – has now announced he will "fully endorse" Elena Lasconi.

23But that’s assuming the vote goes ahead. 24The prosecutor’s office is now examining the new documents.

25"I hope that, based on the evidence published today, the state authorities will take appropriate action, and all those responsible will be held accountable," Ciolacu said.

26He added that people's votes have shown they want the "continuation of Romania's European development path".

27A pro-EU protest has been called for Thursday evening.

28Commenting on the protest, Georgescu warned against possible unrest, citing the "Maidan" in Ukraine - the revolution of 2014 that ousted a pro-Russian president.

29"Please stay at home with your family. 30We need social tranquillity. 31God will not let Romania down,” Georgescu said.

from BBC