Traian Băsescu: "Romanians voted for a robot"

Former Romanian President Traian Băsescu has warned of the risks of involving artificial intelligence and social media in the electoral process, expressing concerns about cybersecurity and the accountability of state institutions.

In a wide-ranging statement to Euronews, Băsescu criticized both the security structures and the way in which a candidate can advance in elections without a traditional electoral campaign, relying on messages generated by artificial intelligence.

Traian Băsescu expressed his outrage at the situation in which a candidate, identified as Călin Georgescu, would have reached the second round of the presidential elections without being known to the public, supported exclusively by an online campaign orchestrated by artificial intelligence. The former president highlighted the risk of having a leader manufactured by automated messages, without any real interaction with the electorate.

Traian Băsescu told Euronews: "It is unacceptable to have a candidate that we do not see, that we do not know, but who wins due to the multiplication of paid messages on social networks like TikTok. This situation opens the door for, in the future, a robot to become president. It is unacceptable that someone can become president of Romania without you seeing him, without knowing him, just because some money was paid to multiply some messages. Tomorrow, this someone could be a robot. Today, after all, after the announcement of the results, the Georgescu robot had to show itself, but tomorrow the Georgescu robot might decide not to show itself, but win the elections. What do we do? The fact that the security structures do not assume any responsibility for the risk of having a president, a candidate for the position of president, in the second round, given that we do not know who fabricated those messages, are we not choosing based on the intelligence of a robot? This man doesn't want to answer questions. It's clear that he has a big problem identifying himself with the one who made it to the second round".

Băsescu was extremely critical of the security services, especially those who manage cybersecurity. He mentioned that Romania has a European cybersecurity center, but the results are lacking. "Where is Romania's cybersecurity?", the former president asked rhetorically, emphasizing that the institutions should provide explanations about the source of funding and the manipulation of voters through digital platforms.

"When I was President of Romania, TikTok didn't exist and there was no question of controlling traffic on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and other social networks, but I noticed a lot of attention given to cybersecurity. I understood that Romania has the cybersecurity center of the European Union. I saw some generals puffing up their feathers, like "not even a bird escapes", but we were going to make a president without seeing him. A president made by robots. You know that if there is one thing that works in the military, it is cowardice. They don't admit mistakes. They are perfect because they are military. I have yet to see a military man say "we are incompetent to shoot down a drone". They say "we don't have laws", but if you want to make them laws and tell them "brothers, come with the project", the military gentlemen come after three or four months", said the former President.

Băsescu highlighted a paradox related to the candidate's success in rural areas. Although it is considered that rural residents have limited access to technology, they were the main target audience of the online campaign carried out on TikTok. "How can the rural area, where we take cash pensions because people don't know how to use an ATM, become so active on TikTok? Something is deeply wrong here", noted the former President.

Traian Băsescu called on state authorities, including ANAF, the Ministry of Finance and the SRI, to investigate the sources of funding and the mechanisms through which artificial intelligence was used to manipulate the vote. "We need to know who financed this operation and make sure that we do not allow such situations in the future," he said.

Finally, Băsescu stressed the seriousness of the situation and the need for responsibility from all actors involved: "We cannot accept that a candidate runs away from questions, does not answer about his campaign and lets robots speak for him. It is a shame for Romanian democracy."