The European Commission today opened a formal file against TikTok to determine what role he played in the victory of the ultranationalist and pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the elections to the presidency of Romaniaannulled by justice after “serious” indications that the country was the victim of a foreign interference channeled through the popular video platform.
The procedure announced since Brussels will investigate whether TikTok violated at least three articles of the Digital Services Law (DSA, for its acronym in English), the European regulation that forces the giants of Internet to stop the disinformationby not correctly addressing the risks linked to the manipulation of its services to launch a coordinated and automated propaganda campaign and the circulation of political advertisements favorable to Georgescu.
“We must protect our democracies from any type of foreign interference. Whenever we suspect such interference, especially during elections, we must act quickly and firmly,” stressed the president of the EC, Ursula von der Leyenin a statement. “It must be abundantly clear that in the EU all online platforms, including TikTok, must be held accountable.” This is its third investigation against the platform, owned by the Chinese giant ByteDance.
Foreign interference
On paper, TikTok prohibits its users from paying to spread political content. However, the Romanian Intelligence Service has reported that ‘influencers‘ for hire, far-right groups and criminals linked to the racketeering They promoted Georgescu’s candidacy through a network with 25,000 accounts on the platform. Furthermore, he equated that campaign with the influence operations that Russia has deployed in neighboring countries such as Ukraine y Moldavia.
TikTok’s European executives said in early December that the company had removed a small network of accounts that had violated its rules to covertly campaign for Georgescu, who has openly praised the Russian president. Vladimir Putinbut limited its impact on the elections.
“In-depth” investigation
Aware of the allegations of foreign interference in Romania, the Commission ordered TikTok on December 5 to store and retain all data related to the election. Now, the executive arm of the EU will analyze this information “in depth” and “as a priority” and request access to the algorithm of the platform to gather new evidence and determine what role it played in Georgescu’s victory. The investigation can take several months, as there is no legal deadline for it to be completed. During that period, the EC may also impose coercive measures on TikTok.
Romania was due to hold the second round of the presidential elections on December 8. However, the indications that there was electoral manipulation meant that, two days before, the Constitutional Court of the country to annul the results of the first round in which Georgescu won by surprise. Following this decision, the Romanian government has 90 days to organize new elections, which could be held in February or March 2025.
