Suspicion of election manipulation: EU proceedings against Tiktok

The EU Commission has initiated proceedings against Tiktok on the basis of the Digital Services Act (DSA) due to the events surrounding the presidential elections in Romania. It concerns alleged violations of the DSA, the Commission announced in Brussels on Tuesday. The Commission is investigating the suspicion of influence exerted by a third country.

"We must protect our democracies from any form of foreign influence," explained EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "Following serious indications that foreign actors used TikTok to interfere in the Romanian presidential elections, we are now thoroughly investigating whether TikTok violated the Digital Services Act."

The proceedings allow the EU Commission, as the supervisory authority, to demand the release of internal documents from TikTok owner Bytedance. If necessary, EU officials could even use administrative assistance to seize documents and data from the company's premises. Bytedance's European representation is based in Ireland. The Commission had previously instructed Tiktok to secure documents and data in connection with the election in Romania.

Surprising election results

In the first round of the Romanian presidential elections in November, the previously little-known pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu surprisingly reached the run-off. Georgescu, who was only polling in single figures as recently as October, had campaigned extensively on Tiktok, including against the EU and NATO.

It is unclear to what extent this constituted undue external influence on the election. The Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the first round of voting and ordered a re-run. The previous incumbent published Secret service information to prove that there was undue influence.

The electoral administration had criticized that Georgescu's team and TikTok had violated transparency obligations for presidential elections. The platform should have ensured that all presidential candidates disclose their sources of funding for paid campaigns.

Various figures play a role in Georgescu's environment –, including a local Bitcoin king and a South African company. However, there does not yet appear to be any clear evidence to support the suspicion that Russia is behind this, which is interested in destabilizing EU member and Ukraine neighbor Romania.

Tiktok in the sights

TikTok is widely used in the EU member state with almost 20 million inhabitants – It is unclear exactly how many active users the service has there. The platform has repeatedly stated that it paid close attention to undue influence in the run-up to the election and had fended off attempts to exert influence from Russia, Turkey and Romania, among others, in the months beforehand.

The Digital Services Act obliges large platforms in particular to take appropriate action against potential risks. The extent to which TikTok has fulfilled its obligations here will be part of the investigation. In particular, the platform's recommendation systems, but also the measures for paid political content and political advertising, will be part of the investigation that has now been launched.

(dmk)