Romanian prosecutors are reportedly investigating a 'troll farm' using Turkish IPs and accounts based on Russian email accounts, which helped increase awareness of the former far-right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu ahead of last year's elections, G4media.ro reported.

The Prosecutor General's Office requested Turkey's cooperation on January 27, through a letter of request, in investigating a troll farm that contributed to Călin Georgescu's electoral campaign, judicial sources told the local media. 

The trolls have "electronic addresses" (IPs) located in Turkey and used Russian email services to create over 20,000 accounts on the TikTok platform.

These over 20,000 accounts posted over 2.1 million comments on Tiktok starting on November 23, 2024, that is, the day before the first round of voting, promoting presidential candidate Călin Georgescu.

This is a considerable number of comments whose purpose was to promote Georgescu. The Tiktok algorithm allows an account (in this case – Călin Georgescu) to increase its visibility if it is promoted through many comments containing a tag to that account.

Email addresses from Russian email service providers were reportedly used to create accounts on the network. The IPs associated with the troll farm's members were located in major Turkish cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, and Izmir.

The addresses are allegedly connected to the UK-registered social media marketing company Social Freak Ltd. According to online investigations, the company is owned by Luke John Askew, who also owns the company NEXISITES.

The troll farm posted the comments on Tiktok using digital marketing services provided by Social Freak LTD, according to G4media.ro. Payment for the services offered by Social Freak LTD can also be made through cryptocurrencies, a payment method that hides the identity of the person who ordered the service.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)