Most of the false, manipulative narratives presented to Romanian users of the Chinese social media app TikTok are spread by a very small number of accounts, according to an analysis presented on Wednesday, May 27, by the “ Immune Romania” initiative.
The analysis regarding disinformation on social networks in Romania was carried out by OPSCII, a “research institute and specialized provider for the European Commission for the rapid detection of manipulation.”
According to the study’s conclusions, cited by ProTV, 76% of the engagement for all disinformation narratives on TikTok is generated by only 10 accounts; 1 in 6 influencers and 1 in 8 official or media sources repeatedly spread disinformation; 20% of the highest-performing posts represent coordinated attacks; and all manipulation campaigns identified in 2026 were grouped into six major narrative categories, the most dominant being “anti-Western” propaganda.
The report was made available during the “Rapid Response – The European Summit for Strengthening Resilience to Disinformation,” organized under the High Patronage of the President of Romania at the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest. The event attended by president Nicușor Dan brought together international experts, OSINT practitioners, journalists, representatives of civil society, and institutional leaders.
During a speech given at the event, the Romanian president said that misinformation has a direct impact on the prosperity of a society.
“Disinformation attacks the level of trust within a society. We are no longer talking about a succession of ad hoc operations. Today, disinformation is coordinated, operates on multiple levels, and relies on technology. That is why the response to it must be equally coordinated,” declared Nicușor Dan. The head of state said that institutions must communicate more effectively and respond more quickly in the face of online manipulation campaigns.
The authors of the report claimed that a Romanian user who scrolls through TikTok frequently encounters manipulative content. “If a Romanian user scrolls through TikTok today, among the first 50 posts they will see 9 disinformation posts and not even a single post coming from an official source,” the analysis stated.
At the same time, the report claimed that public institutions and media organizations have a greater impact when they publish information, but they fail to reach the public sufficiently.
The report further showed that disinformation attacks do not target only the political sphere, but also the economy. According to the analysis, companies in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, energy, retail, automotive, extractive industries, or the non-profit sector are frequent targets of manipulation campaigns, and foreign companies are “especially targeted.”
The Immune Romania initiative claims that it has already carried out pilot campaigns for education and “immunization” against disinformation, and the results show a reduction in interactions with manipulative content.
“People sufficiently exposed to immunization mechanisms viewed twice as little manipulative content and shared up to four times less disinformation content on the same topic,” declared George Leca, president of Immune Romania.
According to the press release, only 20% of the people exposed to educational campaigns later interacted with disinformation content on the same topic, compared to 55% in the control group.
(Photo source: presidency.ro)
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