AEP head says inquiry underway into alleged bot farm meddling with election campaign

Toni Grebla, president of the Permanent Electoral Authority (AEP), declared on Wednesday that no official request was received related to the activity of an alleged bot farm in Romania, and also specified that he already got in contact with other institutions involved in combating such practices for more information.

"I followed the latest discussions in the public space on this subject. The Permanent Electoral Authority is competent for monitoring the unfolding of the election campaign, especially with regard to the spending by the political competitors to promote their political programs or for other campaign activities. We have already contacted other institutions responsible for combating such practices and we are waiting for more information to see where and if such activities are taking place. We will check, in particular, the expenses made by the political contenders, including those the prime minister referred to," Grebla told broadcaster Digi 24.

The subject hit the news after chair of the Save Romania Union (USR) Elena Lasconi accused on Tuesday presidential hopeful Mircea Geoana of meeting with Tal Hanan, "whom an international journalistic investigation exposed as being behind operations to manipulate elections in dozens of states from all over the world through fake news, troll farms and social media operations aimed at discrediting candidates.''

Lasconi posted on Facebook pictures showing Tal Hanan in front of the headquarters of the Aspen Institute in Bucharest, where Mircea Geoana is the founding president. "Another photo proves that Mircea Geoana is present at the same location, together with his close friend, a PSD deputy," the USR leader wrote on Facebook.

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In a press release sent on Wednesday, Geoana's campaign team dismissed the information presented by Elena Lasconi as "completely false".

"Independent candidate Mircea Geoana (...) does not know and has never met with the person indicated by Mrs. Lasconi. Regrettably for the decency of the presidential debate, Elena Lasconi was befuddled and indiscriminately distributed a gross piece of fake news. We would have expected a former TV presenter to not produce falsehoods in the electoral campaign and not lightly roll out false investigations taken from Google maps as certainties. Such fake smear attempts are unworthy of a candidate who wants to be the president of Romania and only reflect desperation," the release states.

Related to this topic, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday that there is certain information about a building in Bucharest accommodating a troll farm that allegedly works in favor of Mircea Geoana, and the authorities should check the situation.

Elena Lasconi asked the prime minister to notify the National Cyber Security Directorate and the National Communications Administration and Regulation Authority to take down the troll farms or "proceed to serious checks into the way Mircea Geoana is running his online campaign."