President of Romania’s Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP) Toni Greblă announced on October 31 that the institution has formally requested leading social media platforms—including TikTok, Facebook and Instagram—to monitor any significant communication patterns that could suggest potential “troll farm” activity aimed at manipulating the ongoing electoral campaign. 

The scandal related to the suspected “troll farms” allegedly operated by former Nato deputy secretary general Mircea Geoana, once the dominant presidential candidate but who is now losing momentum after a series of scandals, has injected unexpected controversy into Romania’s presidential campaign. Geoana has denied the allegations. 

Grebla’s announcement follows escalating concerns over disinformation and digital interference.

“We have been working on this issue for some time, focusing on combating fake news, disinformation, and defamation—problems that increasingly affect electoral and media campaigns,” the official stated. 

He added that recent discussions were held with the leadership of Romania’s communications regulator, ANCOM, and the Ministry of Digitalisation to address these issues. AEP’s request calls on the platforms to detect and address any unusual communication flows linked to candidates in the presidential election and report their findings to the AEP.

The issue came to the fore after Elena Lasconi, president of the reformist Union Save Romania (USR), accused Geoană, an independent presidential candidate, of colluding with Tal Hanan, an Israeli consultant suspected of being behind election interference in various countries. 

Lasconi posted photos purporting to show Hanan at the Aspen Institute headquarters in Bucharest, which Geoana co-founded, and alleged this connection implied support for digital manipulation strategies.

Geoana’s campaign team dismissed Lasconi’s claims as “completely false”, arguing that the accusations were part of a targeted disinformation campaign aimed at undermining his candidacy. A press release from Geoana’s team countered that the allegations “reflect the desperation of a competitor”, adding that Geoana is the “number one target of an aggressive discrediting campaign” funded by political interests opposed to his candidacy.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu subsequently called for an investigation into claims of a “troll farm” in Bucharest allegedly supporting Geoana, urging authorities to take action. In response, Lasconi requested that Ciolacu notify the National Directorate of Cyber Security (DNSC) and ANCOM to prevent such activity and conduct thorough investigations into Geoana’s online campaign operations.