Romanian presidential candidate Nicușor Dan denounces veiled attack on social media

Independent candidate and Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan, who is credited with a real chance to reach the run-off round of the presidential elections in Romania, said on Tuesday, April 15, that his official Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok accounts were under attack.

According to the mayor, thousands of new followers and positive comments have appeared in roughly 24 hours, impacting communication with voters. The accounts are bots, he says, and most have non-Romanian names.

“Something strange happened on my Instagram and TikTok accounts: in the last 24 hours, thousands of new followers, tens of thousands of shares, and thousands of positive comments suddenly appeared, all from a single direction. At first glance, it seems like it would help us. But specialists say otherwise: ‘This is a masked attack. An artificial wave of interactions, fake followers, and forced comments severely damages the account. The platform algorithms quickly detect inauthentic activity and penalize the page harshly,’” Nicușor Dan wrote Tuesday evening on Facebook.

According to the candidate, sudden, artificial growth will be considered manipulation by the social media platforms. To counter it, they will lower the reach of the accounts, so that Nicușor Dan’s messaging will reach fewer real people.

“Specialists are clear: ‘A serious campaign doesn’t use bots. Especially not in such an aggressive form. This is sabotage, not promotion.’ Fake followers and comments do not help us. They sabotage us. It’s a strategy meant to make it look like we are trying to manipulate the online environment, but in fact, we are the target of an attack,” Dan also stated.

Hours later, the same process could be observed on Facebook, according to Nicușor Dan. The candidate said he would appeal to the authorities to stop the attack on his social media accounts, which are essential to his campaign.

The claimed attack comes at a difficult time for Nicușor Dan’s campaign. After the reformist party he founded but left, Save Romania Union (USR), decided to support him to the detriment of its own leader, Elena Lasconi, the Central Electoral Bureau ruled that the party cannot directly support his candidacy. Specifically, USR cannot pay for ads promoting Dan.

(Photo source: Daniel Constante | Dreamstime.com and Inquam Photos | Malina Norocea)