European Commission formally launches investigation into TikTok under Digital Services Act over alleged use of the app to interfere in Romanian presidential election
The European Commission has reported that it has launched
Commission opens formal proceedings against TikTok under DSA
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6487
EU to investigate TikTok's response to election security risks in Romania | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/17/eu-to-investigate-tiktoks-response-to-election-security-risks-in-romania/
Romania held a presidential election over several weeks starting in November 2024. In the first round of voting, Calin Georgescu, a far-right, pro-Russian, independent candidate who was not ranked in the pre-election polls, came in first with 22.94% of the vote. It is said that Georgescu, who was virtually unknown, came in first in the votes due in large part to a large-scale election campaign that operated about 25,000 bot accounts on TikTok, and Russian interference was suspected behind it.
Romanian regulators demand that TikTok be temporarily suspended, citing 'too much influence of TikTok videos on election results' after a pro-Russian, far-right independent candidate incited on TikTok to take first place in the presidential election - GIGAZINE
On December 6, 2024, the Romanian Supreme Court ruled to invalidate the results of the first round of voting. In addition, the European Commission has ordered TikTok to 'preserve data that may influence the electoral process or public debate in the EU' based on the DSA.
Ruling: TikTok invalidates Romanian presidential election, Russian interference in supporting far-right candidate behind the verdict - GIGAZINE
In a statement dated December 17, 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, 'We underscore the need to protect democracy from foreign interference and will launch a detailed investigation following significant indications that foreign powers have used TikTok to interfere in the Romanian presidential elections.'
The investigation will look at TikTok's recommender system and political ads and content. With regard to the recommender system, the investigation will look at the risk of coordinated manipulation and automated abuse on the platform, including how the algorithm displays election-related information to users and the impact of this. With regard to political ads and content, the investigation will look at TikTok's handling of paid political content and its impact on elections.
The European Commission in its investigation has the power to take enforcement measures, such as provisional measures or non-compliance decisions, and can also accept commitments proposed by TikTok to resolve the issue.
TikTok spokesman Elliot Burton said, 'Throughout more than 150 elections around the world, we have defended the integrity of our platform and actively addressed industry-wide challenges. TikTok has provided detailed information about these efforts to the European Commission and is transparently sharing details of our robust actions. We do not accept paid political advertising, we actively remove content that violates our policies on misinformation, harassment and hate speech, and we continue to work with the European Commission and regional and national authorities to respond to requests and discuss concerns.'
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