DIGITAL DUEL by NewsVibe. TOP 5 parties in the Romanian online space, in the last week

According to the data extracted and analyzed with the help of NewsVibe, an AI media monitoring platform, the total mentions about parties register a new increase, although the evolution of political formations, individually, has not been uniform.

The political week was marked by new tensions within the governing coalition, generated by the conditions imposed by PSD regarding both the elections for the Capital City Hall and the reform of public administration, on which no agreement has been reached even in these days.

The tensions also affected the liberal partners, with Raluca Turcan criticizing the lack of solidarity of PNL in defending Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan against attacks from PSD. According to press sources, Ilie Bolojan reportedly asked PNL parliamentarians not to vote for legislative initiatives promoted by PSD that modify government decisions.

Meanwhile, the legislative scene was animated by the passage through the Senate of the Digital Majority Law, which establishes clear limits for the online access of minors under 16 years old.

On the political front, AUR leader George Simion continued direct attacks against President Nicușor Dan, using extreme language that fueled a climate of confrontation and polarization.

Against this backdrop of political agitation, PSD, PNL, and UDMR recorded consistent increases in the number of mentions, while USR and AUR noted declines. The most significant increase in visibility was recorded in the case of UDMR, of approximately 200%, following public interventions by the leaders of this party on governance issues. With this increase, UDMR surpasses AUR in the top mentions about parties. PSD recorded an increase of over 41%, while PNL nearly 45%.

NEWSVIBE GRAPHIC. Top 5 parties based on the volume of mentions in relevant online sources and social media (sources validated by the NewsVibe platform), in the last week.

VISIBILITY AND COMPARATIVE IMPACT. The competitive analysis engine created by NewsVibe evaluates the strength of political actors to penetrate the online space, directly compared to their competitors.

NewsVibe data shows that parties have returned to the forefront of online conversation: total mentions increased by almost 30% compared to last week, and the estimated impact rose by nearly 50%. The most spectacular evolution belongs to UDMR, which not only doubled its visibility but also surpassed AUR in terms of mention impact.

The parties in the governing coalition authoritatively dominate the digital space, concentrating almost 90% of total mentions and impact. Within the coalition, an interesting competition is emerging: PSD leads decisively in the number of mentions (39% vs. 28% for PNL), but the difference diminishes when analyzing impact – 32% for PSD, respectively 29% for PNL.

NewsVibe Graphics. The share of the number of mentions (left), respectively the impact of mentions (right) about each of the parties from the total cumulative mentions about all five

NETWORK ANALYSIS. The tool created by NewsVibe – semantic network analysis – uses advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to build interaction maps that highlight: the central actors of a conversation, the connections between them, the groups (clusters) of themes, concepts, and influencers (personalities and organizations) that have formed around an event, subject, or idea.

NewsVibe Graphic. The semantic network associated with the online conversation about the main 5 parliamentary parties, in the last week 

What the analysis shows:

• A significant segment of the debate is built around PSD, PNL, and the government (with names such as Ilie Bolojan, Sorin Grindeanu, or institutions such as the Government and the Parliament in proximity to the two political actors). This area, actually present in various forms consistently in recent analyses, reflects the continuation of disputes within the coalition, especially between PSD and PNL, on issues such as local administration reform.
• A mixed debate area is emerging around the personality of President Nicușor Dan, bringing together actors such as AUR, George Simion, EU, Ludovic Orban, or the Republic of Moldova. This is a segment in which the terms relate intensely, although on different topics – George Simion's attacks against the president (whom he recently called "autistic"); the outlining of the new team of presidential advisors, with a focus on Ludovic Orban); or the elections in the Republic of Moldova (which continued to generate echoes in Romanian political policy).
• The elections for the Capital City Hall represent a distinct nucleus, which has the strongest connections with the USR area.
• There is a separate area built around UDMR, which reflects the interventions of the leaders of this party on governance issues (Kelemen Hunor spoke about reducing VAT in the future; Deputy Prime Minister Tanczos Barna and the Minister of Development addressed elements related to administrative reform).

SENTIMENT. The NewsVibe platform has created an advanced automated sentiment analysis system, which uses specially trained AI algorithms and LLM tools to detect tonal nuances – favorable, unfavorable, or neutral – in the context of references to relevant entities for an online conversation.

NewsVibe Graphic. The automated evaluation of the tone of the online conversation about the main 5 parliamentary parties, in the week

What the analysis shows:

• PSD continues to be the most present political actor in polarizing and controversial media contexts, against the backdrop of opposition expressed on various governance issues against the line desired by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
• PNL is also predominantly publicized in negative contexts.
• The situation appears more balanced for USR, UDMR, and AUR, which have benefited from online exposure with more balanced mixed accents.
• Overall, however, all major political actors have been present in media contexts with multiple valences – both positive and negative, even if in different proportions.
• From a thematic perspective, positive connotative terms such as The Digital Majority Law or The European Union stand out.

*****Synthesis made with the help of a data monitoring flow provided by the media monitoring platform NewsVibe Romania. The analysis, data, and images presented have been enhanced with the help of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools.