this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2024
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My father voted for Romania’s ultra-nationalist. I am beginning to understand why (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/europe
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[–] Ooops 44 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (8 children)

The article even start with "He spends much of his free time on TikTok, and was swept up in Georgescu’s rhetoric. TikTok’s algorithm fed him a steady stream of short, stirring videos..." and then ignores reality again to spin a story of how it's all just protest voting from people felt let down by politics.

Again. For the 100000th time it's not brain-washing by social media but purely "protest voting", with social media as an innocent bystander just concidentally being there and pouring bullshit into people's brains 24/7 every single time.

[–] 0x815 23 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

@Ooops

... with social media as an innocent bystander just concidentally being there ...

Social media - and Tiktok is no exemption, of course - is not an "innocent bystander". Their algorithms deliberately surveill and manipulate users, and pursue a commercial and/or political agenda. In case of Tiktok, this agenda serves the goal of the regime in China (and their allies).

There is ample evidence for Tiktok and (almost) all other social media platforms pursuing a purpose. For the Romanian election case, there is an analysis by the European Media Observatory on the Romanian election -- (Archived link).

On 'TikTok's role in Romanian politics' and the 'Candidate Performance Metrics', it says, among others:

  • Călin Georgescu: Notably surged in popularity, garnering 120 million views, particularly in the final two months. This increase was attributed to coordinated campaigns that used both direct promotion and indirect influence via unpaid influencers, often lacking appropriate labeling. A salient example is the #echilibrușiverticalitate campaign, which reached 2.4 million views through these tactics.

The analysis also says:

The lack of effective moderation allowed for widespread dissemination of unverified information, particularly affecting extreme-right candidates.

Concerns around unlabelled or undeclared political content in the 2024 Romanian presidential elections, particularly on TikTok are significant. They emphasize a lack of transparency in political campaigns, notably involving candidates like Călin Georgescu, who used the platform without disclosing the funding and motivations behind their promotion. The employment of influencers without adequate disclosure raises ethical issues complicates voters’ understanding of the content.

[...]

The notable gap between projected poll figures (around 10%) and actual results (over 22%) raises concerns about potential external influences, including foreign interference.

Emphasis mine.

[Edit typo.]

[–] bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I reckon there’s gotta be a typo (or satire) in Oooops’ 2nd paragraph. It doesn’t fit to the first and I am relatively sure his POV is pretty similar to yours.

I on the other hand would suggest to be careful to assume everybody’s just brainwashed and by that questioning ever more election results and trying to revert them if unwanted. People voting for fascists is not a thing brought upon us by foreign actors. It comes from within and we got to fight it here much more vigorously.

[–] 0x815 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

@bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.com Yah, I forget surveillance algorithms are only bad when they come from the West, right? (/s, just to be safe)

In other related news:

Romania orders election recount after TikTok bias claims

A recount of the votes cast in Sunday's first round of presidential elections in Romania has been ordered by the country's top court following allegations that social media platform TikTok gave "preferential treatment" to the surprise winner, Calin Georgescu.

[–] bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.com -3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Weird answer.

But yeah, I know about the recount. And I wonder: How can a recount change anything if the voters were already manipulated when they cast their votes?

[–] 0x815 0 points 3 weeks ago

How a little-known far-right candidate manipulated TikTok to rise to the top in the Romanian election

Georgescu’s unexpected gains are partly linked to his social media strategy. He has used platforms like TikTok effectively to sway voter opinion and spread propaganda. However, allegations that his campaign is using fake accounts to fabricate comments and manipulate social media activity have also surfaced [...]

Georgescu [...] praised Romania’s former dictator and Nazi ally during the second world war, Marshal Ion Antonescu, referring to him as a “martyr” who also did “good deeds”. [...] He has also positioned himself as pro-Putin, praising the Russian president as one of the world’s few “true leaders”. He has criticised Romania’s support for Ukraine, claiming that Nato would not defend Romania if it were attacked. And he advocates for nationalist policies, aiming to reduce Romania’s reliance on imports and distance the country from the EU [...]

His TikTok account, which was set up in 2022, has more than 400,000 followers and millions of views. Numerous accounts, groups and pages in his support have also proliferated on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) [...]

He has also claimed in interviews that women are incapable of leading Romania, and that feminism is “absolute dirt”. In one video, he declared that “only a man can do this”, referring to the presidency. These videos come not only from Georgescu’s official TikTok accounts, but also from unaffiliated accounts using his name in profiles or bios to promote his election [...]

These clips [on Tiktok] often rely on emotional appeals and misinformation [...]

During Georgescu’s campaign, accounts displaying bot-like behaviours have been highly active in the comment sections on TikTok, YouTube and Facebook [...]

Using bots to inflate a candidate’s social media popularity and spread misinformation is a tactic that has been used to influence elections elsewhere before [...]

Reports suggest that thousands of fake accounts promoted Georgescu through videos and comments prior to Romania’s election [...]

Valérie Hayer, a top EU lawmaker, has now called on TikTok’s CEO to appear before the European Parliament and address the platform’s possible misuse in favour of Georgescu’s campaign.

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