AI disinformation on TikTok: EU Commission examines "Polexit" campaign

The EU Commission has launched an investigation into TikTok to review compliance with the Digital Services Act. The trigger, according to a Brussels-based Politico newsletter, is a wave of videos apparently created with the help of AI. The spots heavily promote Poland's exit from the EU ("Polexit") in the style of Brexit.

According to the report, Poland's Deputy Minister for Digitalization, Dariusz Standerski, officially approached the EU government institution at the end of December, demanding consequences against the dissemination of this content. A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed that the executive body is in close contact with the Polish authorities. The current focus is on gathering further details and assessing whether the platform has fulfilled its obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Young women in patriotic clothing

The clips in question, which have achieved high reach, especially on TikTok, follow a striking pattern: they show young women in traditionally patriotic clothing spreading far-right messages and urging the Polish population to break with Brussels. Official bodies in Warsaw speak of a coordinated disinformation campaign. Investigations suggest that the content exhibits characteristics of Russian influence, as the texts sometimes contain specific Russian syntax.

TikTok has not yet responded substantively to specific inquiries about the case. However, the Chinese platform operator stated to media representatives that it had already removed some of the affected content due to violations of its own guidelines.

Many elections in EU countries in 2026

This is not TikTok's first confrontation with Brussels regulators. As early as spring 2024, the Commission requested information on how the platform minimizes risks associated with AI content. In December 2024, the Brussels authority then opened a formal DSA procedure. It suspects that TikTok has failed to effectively combat manipulative interference during the Romanian presidential elections.

The DSA obliges operators of very large online platforms to proactively identify and mitigate systemic risks. Failures can result in severe fines of up to six percent of global annual turnover.

The identified campaign gains urgency due to the political calendar of 2026. While EU bodies are already preparing for the French presidential election in 2027, numerous national elections are scheduled for this year, where online manipulations could influence the outcome. The presidential election in Portugal in January will kick things off, followed by parliamentary elections in Hungary in spring and Cyprus in May. In the autumn, relevant decisions are scheduled in Sweden and Latvia, as well as the presidential election in Bulgaria.

The Commission must thus prove that the new platform regulations are strong enough to defend the integrity of these democratic processes against automated disinformation. At the same time, it faces accusations from the Trump administration of not harmonizing with their view of freedom of speech. In November, the EU executive presented a plan for a European Democracy Shield. The goal is to preserve the "integrity of the information space" and strengthen the community's collective defense capabilities against information manipulation and disinformation. The EU is thus to establish a network of fact-checkers, for example.

(dmk)