Europe demands TikTok to freeze election data amid influence claims
The European Commission has mandated TikTok to retain data related to elections in Romania and other EU countries until the end of March 2025. This decision stems from allegations that the platform favored Calin Georgescu, a pro-Russian presidential candidate in Romania, and suspicions of violating EU regulations, as reported by the Polish Press Agency.
The European Commission has acted in response to accusations that TikTok may have influenced the fairness of elections in Romania. On Thursday, the platform was required to freeze and retain all data related to the electoral process, effective until the end of March 2025.
TikTok is suspected of promoting Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian radical right candidate in the Romanian presidential elections. Authorities in Bucharest informed allies about attempts at foreign interference in the voting process.
The European Commission is investigating whether TikTok's actions violate the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires large online platforms to prevent activities that could undermine election integrity. Under these powers, the EC issued a data retention order to TikTok.
Did TikTok promote a pro-Russian candidate in the Romanian presidential elections?
The EC remarked that the order aims to preserve available information and evidence for any further investigation regarding TikTok's compliance with obligations under the DSA.
The platform must secure internal documents and information about the functioning of its recommendation systems and how it addresses manipulations.
The order applies not only to the presidential elections in Romania but also to all national elections in the EU from November 24, 2024, to March 31, 2025. EC spokesman Thomas Regner dismissed claims that the European Union had not done enough to protect member countries from electoral interference.
Regner emphasized that the Commission has consistently collaborated with online platforms concerning European elections, including the June elections to the European Parliament. In April, guidelines were issued for providers of very large online platforms on limiting systemic risk in the context of electoral processes.
According to Romanian authorities, the network of accounts promoting Georgescu initially included 25,000 profiles on TikTok, becoming very active two weeks before the elections. The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Bucharest also reported that over 100 influencers, with a total of 8 million followers, were manipulated to promote this candidate, as reported by PAP.
