Romanian presidential elections rocked by allegations of bot farms used to influence voters

Mircea Geoană, an independent candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Romania, has been accused by two other candidates, including current prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, of running a bot farm to his benefit in connection to a well-known Israeli leader of hackers.

The accusation, first launched on Tuesday, October 29, by reformist (USR) presidential candidate Elena Lasconi during a town hall meeting, was later picked up by prime minister and Social Democrat (PSD) leader Marcel Ciolacu, who is also running for president.

Lasconi published images of Tal Hanan, a businessman known for attempting to manipulate elections in 30 countries, in Bucharest at the Aspen Institute headquarters. Mircea Geoană founded the institute years ago, according to G4Media.

Geoană denied knowing or ever meeting with Hanan then invoked Israel, although Lasconi hadn’t mentioned that Tal Hanan is Israeli. He further claimed that attacks against him began this summer on a TV station owned by convicted fugitive Sebastian Ghiță, whom Geoană said was in league with Marcel Ciolacu.

Mircea Geoană's staff later sent the press a statement claiming that "Elena Lasconi was misinformed and indiscriminately distributed blatant fake news" and that Mircea Geoană is "the number one target of an aggressive discreditation campaign."

Contacted by journalists, Tal Hanan confirmed he had been in Romania. "I confirm I was in Romania on vacation. It’s a beautiful country with wonderful people. I met and spoke with people, but we don’t discuss clients," he said in a conversation with Digi24.

Immediately after, on Wednesday, October 30, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu and the minister of digitalization publicly accused Mircea Geoană of using troll farms in his campaign. The PSD leader called on the Permanent Electoral Authority to investigate, while Elena Lasconi issued a new statement asking the PM to notify the National Cybersecurity Directorate (DNSC) and the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), institutions that have cybersecurity attributes.

Lasconi further emphasized that any involvement of foreign operatives in Romanian elections threatens national security and transparency. She urged that further investigation and legislation should reinforce restrictions on digital campaign strategies, aligning Romania with recent EU regulations on political advertising to prevent misuse of personal data in political contexts.