Moldova election: Party cautioned over TikTok campaign spending irregularities
The political party Democraţia Acasă (Democracy at Home), led by Vasile Costiuc, has been cautioned by the Central Election Commission (CEC) after failing to report online advertising expenses.
The party, which won 5.62% of the vote in the parliamentary elections and could secure six parliamentary seats, was highly visible on social media platforms.
The election commission cited a report from a Bucharest research institute that identified a coordinated network of 17 TikTok accounts. These accounts massively promoted the party's messages, accumulating 16 million views from "potentially false accounts."
Crucially, some of these activities were allegedly managed from neighbouring Romania, in violation of the Electoral Code.
CEC Vice-President Pavel Postica said at the session on October 1st: "It is noted that the Democraţia Acasă political party benefited from massive media support from a coordinated network of 17 TikTok accounts, and maintaining this network is practically impossible without financial support. However, this financial support is not declared in the report on the financing of the said electoral competitor's campaign, which constitutes a deviation from the normative framework."
Postica added that since the election is finalised, the CEC could apply a milder sanction, as the legality of the results is yet to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.
Leader rejects allegations
The party leader, Vasile Costiuc, rejected the accusations, claiming the TikTok platform does not permit post sponsorship in the country.
"Mr. Postica, those who rely on public transport don't need to sponsor TikTok advertising," Costiuc wrote on Facebook, implying that the party did not have the financial means for such promotion.
Other election irregularities
The CEC also identified irregularities involving the "Moldova Mare" Party (Great Moldova), led by Victoria Furtună. Its report showed that at least one campaign meeting in Orhei was not accounted for financially. The commission only noted the violation, as the party had already been excluded from the electoral race.
The "Patriotic" Electoral Bloc, a coalition of Socialists, Communists, and other parties, was also scrutinised over suspicious donations. Five contributions, totalling over 28,000 Moldovan lei, came from individuals without sufficient income. The amounts were confiscated and remitted to the state budget.
Discrepancies in online spending
The CEC noted that while all 23 electoral contenders submitted financial reports, the declared figures for online advertising often did not coincide with those published by digital platforms.
"All competitors who used online advertising are obligated to present all invoices confirming payments for online advertising to the Central Election Commission at the end of the campaign," concluded Pavel Postica.
The citizens of the Republic of Moldova elected their new Parliament on September 28th.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
