Did Romania’s ‘King of TikTok’ Really Sway a Presidential Election?
Authorities say a citizen spent almost a million dollars promoting a pro-Russia candidate by giving in-app gifts.
Illustration: Carolina Moscoso for Bloomberg Businessweek
In the outside world, he was Bogdan Peschir, a 36-year-old crypto trader from the storybook Transylvanian town of Brașov, with a view from his balcony of red-roofed houses, a Gothic church and the changing of the seasons on Mount Tâmpa. On TikTok he was Bogpr, Romania’s largest TikTok gifter.
Peschir especially liked to spend money on livestreamers. If you broadcast an event on TikTok and did something to capture his attention and approval—jump in a canal, say, or do a backflip—he might watch and send you animations that would streak across your phone screen. These cost him from a few cents to hundreds of dollars apiece. His recipients were able in turn to redeem the animations for cash. At this level, digital gifts are about more than just approval from strangers.