Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated on Wednesday that there is a troll farm in a residential building that would help Mircea Geoană in his campaign, and that state institutions need to clarify if the activity is legal.
The Prime Minister was asked, before the Government meeting, if he was aware of the presence in Romania of Tal Hanan, an individual who coordinates a very large team of hackers, troll farms, and disinformation, which Elena Lasconi accuses of having recently met with Mircea Geoană.
"No. I knew that there are many servers for bot farms in a building. Not the entire building, one floor in a building. Bots and farms. I don't have clear information, I also have sources. I heard there is a troll farm and I also informed those in charge," Marcel Ciolacu specified.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, stated that he is not familiar with the subject but will get informed.
The President of AEP, Toni Greblă, mentioned that he has not received any official request regarding the activity of a troll farm, indicating that AEP has responsibilities regarding the expenses incurred in the electoral campaign by political competitors.
"I have not received any official request regarding the activity of a bot farm or something similar, I have seen what has been discussed in the public space in the last few hours. AEP has responsibilities regarding the conduct of the electoral campaign, in this case, possibly regarding the expenses made by political competitors to promote their political program in various forms," stated Toni Greblă on Digi24.
The President of AEP announced that he has already contacted other institutions involved in combating such practices.
"We are waiting for more information regarding what and where such things can happen, and we will verify, regarding AEP, especially the expenses made by political competitors. To verify the activities carried out by political competitors in electoral campaigns, there is a shared competition, I refer primarily to the electoral offices, at various levels of hierarchy, similarly, activities can be carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Authority for the Digitalization of Romania, specialized services of the SRI, if there are suspicions that these activities affect national security," he explained.
Greblă mentioned that he does not have details about these alleged activities, and when they receive more information, each will start within their competencies such verifications to see if the electoral campaign law is being respected.
"Why did you recently meet with Tal Hanan, also known as Jorge? For those who do not know who Tal Hanan is, he is an individual who coordinates a very large team of hackers, troll farms, disinformation, an individual who manipulated elections in over 30 countries worldwide," Elena Lasconi asked Mircea Geoană on Tuesday evening during the electoral debate organized by Antena 3.
Later, during the debate, Lasconi made a new post on Facebook on this subject, also posting images of him in front of the Aspen Institute headquarters in Bucharest, where Mircea Geoană is the founding president.
"The man Mircea Geoană claims he did not meet is Tal HANAN, alias Jorge, exposed following an international journalistic investigation as being behind election manipulation operations in dozens of countries around the world, through fake news, troll farms, and social media operations aimed at discrediting candidates. Tal HANAN is Israeli, a former member of the Israeli special forces," wrote Lasconi.
Independent presidential candidate Mircea Geoană stated on Tuesday evening that he does not know who Tal Hanan is, the man whom USR President Elena Lasconi claims he recently met.
Geoană argues that the methods applied by Elena Lasconi are unacceptable.
On Wednesday, Tal Hanan confirmed that he recently visited Romania, but emphasized that he "does not discuss his clients."
"I met and talked with people, but we do not discuss clients," Tal Hanan said in a conversation with Digi24.ro reporters, when asked if he met with Mircea Geoană or if he works with the independent candidate in the context of the presidential elections.