EU investigates TikTok for alleged Russian interference in Romanian vote

The European Union’s govt department has opened a proper investigation into TikTok attributable to “severe indicators” of overseas interference within the current Romanian presidential election utilizing the video-sharing platform.

The runoff vote was canceled earlier this month after declassified intelligence paperwork revealed that 25,000 TikTok accounts have been immediately activated weeks earlier than polls opened within the first spherical.

These accounts help unbiased candidate Calin Georgescu, a largely unknown far-right activist who has described Russia’s Vladimir Putin as a “patriot and a pacesetter”, though he has denied being a fan.

European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen stated democracies have to be protected against overseas interference.

EU regulators will assess whether or not TikTok’s promoting insurance policies and the techniques it makes use of to suggest content material to customers violate the Digital Companies Act (DSA), which goals to stop the unfold of misinformation and put a cease unlawful on-line actions.

“Each time we suspect such interference, significantly throughout elections, we must act quickly and firmly,” von der Leyen said in a statement..

“It ought to be abundantly clear that inside the EU all on-line platforms, together with TikTok, have to be held accountable.”

Georgescu’s election marketing campaign centered totally on TikTok and, though Moscow denied interference, Romanian intelligence stated Russia had recognized the NATO member state as an enemy state and a precedence goal .

TikToks selling the candidate weren’t marked as election content material, which is unlawful in Romania.

One account paid $381,000 (£300,000) in posts for Georgescu, who denied spending cash on the platform himself.

TikTok has vehemently denied the allegations, insisting that “it’s categorically false to assert [Georgescu’s] account was handled in a different way from every other candidate.”

Though the platform permits the natural publication and sharing of electoral content material, paid political promoting is prohibited.

After the runoff was canceled, TikTok stated that “when Romanian authorities contacted us to report a lot of movies missing identifiers…we took motion on these movies inside 24 hours.”

A part of the EU investigation will study dangers related to “automated exploitation” of TikTok’s algorithm, which delivers customized content material to a person’s “For You” web page primarily based on their pursuits and the way it interacts with the applying.

It should additionally consider TikTok’s insurance policies on political advertisements.

On December 5, the EU ordered TikTok to protect inner paperwork on the way it really useful content material to customers and what strategies it needed to mitigate “intentional manipulations” of its platform.

This encompasses content material regarding all nationwide elections within the EU between 24 November 2024 and 31 March 2025, together with in Romania, Eire and Croatia.

The EU stated it could perform the investigation “as a matter of precedence”.

It’s a part of a separate investigation right into a doable violation by TikTok of the DSA concerning dangerous content material and the safety of minors.

After the primary spherical of the Romanian presidential election, Romanian intelligence companies stated that Georgescu’s sudden rise in recognition was attributable to a “extremely organized” and “guerrilla” social media marketing campaign, from accounts sending an identical messages.

Earlier than the cancellation of the second spherical, he was neck and neck with the reform candidate Elena Lasconi.

Georgescu had campaigned to finish political and navy support to Ukraine.

He’s a conspiracy theorist who believes neither within the moon landings nor within the Covid-19 pandemic.