Disinformation Floods Social Media After Romanian Election

Starting Tuesday, social media platforms including Facebook, Telegram, X, and TikTok have been flooded with thousands of posts containing false information, according to G4Media. A large-scale disinformation campaign is underway, amplifying George Simion’s unsubstantiated claims made Tuesday evening, including allegations of voter fraud, calls to annul the presidential elections, and incitement to protest.

The campaign is unfolding across all major platforms. However, Meta (the parent company of Facebook) and Telegram have reportedly refused to remove illegal content flagged by Romanian authorities, G4Media reports. Meanwhile, viral petitions are circulating online calling for the annulment of the election results and for stripping Romanian citizenship from Moldovan citizens.

On Tuesday, in a video posted on Facebook, AUR leader George Simion announced he would ask Romania’s Constitutional Court to cancel the presidential elections. He accused the governments of Moldova and France of interfering in the election and called for the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, to testify. Durov, a Russian billionaire, responded via X, expressing his willingness to cooperate: “I’m ready to come and testify if it helps Romanian democracy.” He also shared Simion’s post.

“We will act through legal channels both domestically and internationally. For the reasons mentioned in the CCR decision of December 2024, I, as an electoral competitor, will write to the CCR and request the annulment of the elections,” said George Simion.

TikTok is currently the only major platform actively removing flagged illegal content. It is also under investigation by the European Commission.

Videos and posts are going viral at an alarming pace, reaching millions of views. Among the false narratives being pushed are anti-French and anti-Moldovan themes, aimed at fueling political tension.