Proceedings initiated

EU Commission investigates TikTok’s influence on elections

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that democracies must be protected from any kind of foreign interference.

(Bild: ©mehaniq41 - stock.adobe.com)

The European Commission has opened proceedings against the online platform TikTok in connection with the now annulled presidential election in Romania. The aim is to examine whether the Chinese company is taking sufficient action against interference by foreign actors in elections, as the Commission announced in Brussels.

Specifically, the Brussels authority wants to look at TikTok's recommendation systems, i.e. the platform's algorithm. The focus will be on coordinated, non-authentic manipulation and the automated use of the service. The focus will also be on how TikTok deals with political advertising and paid political content.

Strict rules due to EU law
Under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, X, Google and many others must take faster and stricter action against illegal content on the internet than before. Otherwise they could face penalties. According to the Commission, TikTok could face fines amounting to six percent of its total global annual turnover. The authority could also impose a daily fine until the problem has been rectified.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that democracies must be protected from any kind of foreign interference. Following serious indications that foreign actors had interfered in the Romanian presidential elections with the help of TikTok, she said that a thorough investigation would now be carried out into whether the company was sufficiently combating such risks. "Whenever we suspect such interference, especially in elections, we must act quickly and decisively."

Allegations against TikTok in Romania
The Chinese company rejects the accusations. "We have protected the integrity of our platform in over 150 elections around the world," said a spokesperson when asked. "We do not accept paid political advertising and we proactively remove content that violates our policies on misinformation, harassment and hate speech." TikTok will continue to work with the European Commission as well as regional and national authorities to address requests and discuss concerns.

The Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) in Romania had made serious accusations against TikTok following the success of the pro-Russian right-wing radical Calin Georgescu in the presidential election. The platform had failed to identify him as a politician in the propaganda materials he published there. Romania's public prosecutor's office is now investigating the method of Georgescu's election campaign and its financing.

Georgescu had mainly campaigned on TikTok. He came first in the first round of the presidential election, followed by the conservative-liberal politician Elena Lasconi. The Constitutional Court has since annulled the election. The entire election process must be repeated. A date for this has not yet been set.

Data retention until 2025
The commission now wants to gather further evidence in the current proceedings, for example through interviews. With the initiation of the proceedings, only a suspicion is being investigated for the time being, the outcome has not yet been determined.

At the beginning of December, the Brussels authority had already instructed TikTok to freeze and retain all data relating to actual and foreseeable systemic risks to electoral processes in the EU. One of the reasons for this was that the Commission had received information indicating interference from Russia.

According to the EU Commission, the instruction to TikTok to retain all data remains valid for all upcoming EU elections at national level until March 31, 2025. This therefore also applies to the new elections in Germany scheduled for February 23.