Canceled election in Romania
Brussels is investigating TikTok for election influence
Updated 12/17/2024 – 1:40 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Has the Chinese company TikTok done enough against foreign actors who wanted to interfere in the Romanian election? The EU is now examining this.
The European Commission has opened proceedings against the online platform TikTok in connection with the now annulled presidential election in Romania. The Commission in Brussels announced that it should be examined whether the Chinese company is taking sufficient action against interference from foreign actors in elections.
Specifically, the Brussels authority wants to look at, among other things, TikTok’s recommendation systems, i.e. the platform’s algorithm. This is supposed to be about coordinated, inauthentic manipulation and automated use of the service. There is also a focus on how TikTok handles political advertising and paid political content.
According to the EU law DSA (Digital Services Act), platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Otherwise they face fines. In principle, large services like Facebook and Instagram have to follow more rules than small ones.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that democracies must be protected from any kind of foreign interference. After serious indications that foreign actors used TikTok to interfere in the Romanian presidential election, a thorough investigation is now underway to determine whether the company is adequately combating such risks, she said. “Whenever we suspect such interference, particularly during elections, we must act quickly and decisively.”
The Chinese company denies the allegations. “We have protected the integrity of our platform in over 150 elections around the world,” said a spokeswoman when asked. “We do not accept paid political advertising, we proactively remove content that violates our policies on misinformation, harassment and hate speech.” TikTok wants to continue to work with the European Commission as well as regional and national authorities to process inquiries and discuss concerns.
The Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) in Romania made serious accusations against TikTok after the success of the pro-Russian right-wing extremist Călin Georgescu in the presidential election. The platform failed to identify him as a politician in the propaganda materials he published there. Romania’s public prosecutor’s office is now investigating the method of Georgescu’s election campaign and its financing.
Georgescu campaigned primarily on TikTok. He came first in the first round of the presidential election, followed by the conservative-liberal politician Elena Lasconi. The Constitutional Court has since annulled the election. The entire election process must be repeated. There is no date for this yet.
The commission now wants to continue collecting evidence in the current proceedings, for example through interviews. When the procedure is initiated, only a suspicion is being examined; the result has not yet been determined.
At the beginning of December, the Brussels authority had already ordered TikTok to freeze and retain all data relating to actual and foreseeable systemic risks to electoral processes in the EU. This was done, among other things, because the Commission had received information indicating interference from Russia.
According to the EU Commission, the instruction to TikTok to retain all data remains valid for all upcoming EU elections at national level until March 31, 2025. This also affects the new elections in Germany planned for February 23rd.
