Intelligence Service warns of disinformation campaign after explosion at Bucharest apartment block

The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) has warned of a coordinated online disinformation campaign spreading false information about the recent explosion at the apartment building in Bucharest’s Rahova district, which killed three people and injured 15 others.

In a statement released on Monday, October 20, SRI said that in recent days, numerous conspiracy theories have circulated on social media, targeting Romanian state institutions and their personnel, without giving specific examples. Preliminary data suggest that the spread of these messages “bears the hallmarks of a coordinated disinformation campaign, the agency stated.

SRI also urged citizens to avoid sharing unverified content from anonymous or unreliable sources and to rely only on official information channels.

Moreover, the intelligence service called attention to the growing need to update Romania’s legal framework, including criminal legislation, to effectively counter disinformation efforts aimed at undermining public trust in state institutions and promoting extremist or radical narratives.

Following last week’s deadly explosion in Bucharest, social media platforms were quickly flooded with false claims, including allegations of planted explosives, assassinations, and political conspiracies involving senior officials. Some false narratives, as reported by Digi24, turned the investigation into a possible gas accumulation into a movie-like scenario, featuring “C-4 bombs,” an alleged “double assassination,” and stories about “the killing of a general’s son from the Defense Council,” who was said to have opposed the cancellation of the presidential elections.

Another theory circulating on social media reportedly claimed that the mayor had opened donation accounts for the victims, but the money allegedly “ended up in his own pocket.” Other posts linked the supposed funds to aid provided to Ukrainian refugees or to the Republic of Moldova. No institution has confirmed the existence of any fraud, according to Digi24.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Alex Nicodim)