The European Commission said on Thursday it had stepped up its surveillance of TikTok after receiving information about possible Russian interference in Romania’s presidential election.
Authorities in Bucharest have alleged Russian interference and “preferential treatment” by TikTok of far-right candidate Calin Georgescu. TikTok denies the claim.
But despite not announcing a breach of the Chinese-origin video-sharing platform, the Commission said TikTok must “freeze and preserve” data related to the “actual or foreseeable systemic risks that its service could pose to electoral processes and the social discourse in the United States. EU”.
The European executive acts as the EU’s digital watchdog under the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), which came into full force on February 17.
TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, must also keep internal documents and information about the design and operation of its “recommendation systems,” as well as information about how it addresses the risk of “intentional manipulation,” the Commission said.
“We have already worked with the Commission and will continue to do so,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
“We look forward to establishing the facts in light of some of the speculation and inaccurate reports we have seen.”
The Commission said its arrest warrant related to “national elections in the European Union between 24 November 2024 and 31 March 2025”.
“The order follows information received by the Commission in the context of the ongoing Romanian elections, including recently released information indicating foreign interference from Russia,” it added.
Moscow is regularly accused of orchestrating disinformation campaigns in favor of candidates who could be beneficial to the country, in the EU or in neighboring countries such as Moldova or Georgia.
“At this stage, the Commission is monitoring compliance and has no position on whether TikTok may have breached its obligations under the DSA,” the Commission said.
Romania – a member state of the EU and NATO – will hold a second presidential election this Sunday and could elect its first far-right president, with the vote closely watched as the country borders Ukraine.
– Extreme right wave –
Nationalist candidate Georgescu-Roegen, a 62-year-old former civil servant, was a surprise winner in the first round on November 24. He will face centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi for president.
There are fears that under Georgescu-Roemen, Romania – which has become increasingly important since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine – will join the EU’s far-right bloc and undermine European unity against Moscow.
Bucharest pointed the finger at the Kremlin after claims of interference in the first round vote, including suspicions of unbalanced treatment of candidates on TikTok, which Georgescu-Roegen has made extensive use of.
Romania’s Supreme Council for National Defense claimed last month that TikTok had given “preferential treatment” to Georgescu-Roemen, saying he benefited from “huge fame” by not being labeled a “political candidate”.
The situation, according to the company, requires “emergency measures” aimed at the popular app, which has eight million users in the country, according to data provided by the company to the Commission.
Relatively unknown until a few months ago, Georgescu-Roegen is followed by more than 530,000 people on TikTok, where his anti-vaccination videos, in which he praises Russian President Vladimir Putin and calls for a halt to aid to Ukraine – have racked up millions of videos . loves”.
Its popularity is seen as a protest voice against economic turbulence, but TikTok has also played “a decisive role” in its rise, Andrei Curararu, co-founder of Moldova-based anti-disinformation Watchdog.md, told AFP.
He estimated that Georgescu-Roegen’s clips were viewed 52 million times in four days.
On November 29, the European Commission asked TikTok to explain in detail how it analyzed and mitigated the risks of information manipulation, in particular through its “recommendation systems”.
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