Bucharest (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Romanian authorities alarmed the European Union about irregularities on TikTok during the first round of the national presidential election.
Romania’s national media regulator Ancom informed the European Commission as recently that TikTok had “not acted swiftly” to demands to secure the election, it stated in a press release.
European Commission representative Thomas Regnier verified it had received a request to open “a formal investigation into TikTok’s function in the Romanian elections” under its flagship social media law, the Digital Services Act (DSA). “We are closely monitoring developments,” Regnier expressed, adding that the EU “can open proceedings” if it has “evidence at our disposal.”
Why is TikTok under investigation for its role in Romanian elections?
TikTok is under mounting pressure to illustrate how it handled political scope in Romania after a first-round presidential vote on Sunday pushed the ultranationalist, pro-Russian firebrand Călin Georgescu to a shock win, in part thanks to his sudden fame on TikTok. A top EU lawmaker insisted that TikTok’s chief executive appear before the EU Parliament to answer queries, and Romanian NGOs have demanded the Commission to look into whether TikTok and other platforms conceded with Europe’s social media laws.
The European Commission supervises TikTok’s compliance with the EU’s new DSA rulebook, which sets the regulations for how large online platforms moderate content, including in political campaigns. The subjects were already “brought to the attention of the European Commission … in recent months” and again, the Romanian regulator stated. Authorities had flagged “various irregularities linked to the illegally distributed content” to TikTok and asked the platform to take steps to make sure the election was held “under legal conditions,” but the platform had not responded adequately, it stated.
The Romanian case places the European Commission in a tough spot, as examining TikTok’s role in how the vote went down could be caught as interfering in national elections. Romanians are planned to head to the polls for a parliament election this weekend and a second round of its presidential vote on Dec. 8. “The Commission does not interfere in national elections and seeks to ensure within its competencies a level playing field for all candidates,” Regnier stated.
