The European Commission announced a probe into TikTok on Dec. 16, alleging a breach of the EU’s Digital Services Act by allowing interference in the Romanian presidential elections Nov. 24.
“We must protect our democracies from any kind of foreign interference,” European Commission President stated Ursula von der Leyen. “Whenever we suspect such interference, especially during elections, we have to act swiftly and firmly.”
TikTok did not respond to an inquiry from The Epoch Times by publication time.
Romania’s top court recently annulled the presidential election first-round results, in which Calin Georgescu had won after mainly campaigning through TikTok. The European Union then ordered TikTok to freeze all data linked to the election, signaling a probe.
Outgoing Romanian President Klaus Iohannis had declassified intelligence reports that suggested Russia had promoted Georgescu, who had been critical of the European Union and described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a true leader and patriot.
Romanian intelligence said they had obtained information showing an aggressive campaign promoting Georgescu, including one user who paid $381,000 to promote Georgescu’s content.
Prior to his TikTok campaign, Georgescu had polled in the single digits. Georgescu, running as an independent, ended up with 22.95 percent of the vote. Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party were closely placed for second and third respectively at 19.17 percent and 19.15 percent of the vote respectively.
The U.S. State Department expressed concern upon the release of the declassified report, saying foreign interference would affect the security cooperation pact between the United States and Romania.
Europe’s Digital Services Act requires social media platforms to “to properly assess and mitigate systemic risks linked to election integrity,” and the European Commission’s probe will focus on the effect of TikTok’s algorithm in allowing “inauthentic manipulation or automated exploitation” as well as TikTok’s ad policies.
“Following serious indications that foreign actors interfered in the Romanian presidential elections by using TikTok, we are now thoroughly investigating whether TikTok has violated the Digital Services Act by failing to tackle such risks,” von der Leyen stated. “It should be crystal clear that in the EU, all online platforms, including TikTok, must be held accountable.”
The Commission announced it will continue to gather evidence, including requesting access to TikTok’s proprietary algorithm, which has so far remained somewhat of a black box.
This is the EU’s third TikTok probe. In April, the commission investigated TikTok Lite opening in Spain and France, and TikTok entered a settlement in August, permanently withdrawing the TikTok Lite Rewards program it gave users rewards for finishing “tasks” such as watching videos, liking content, and following creators. EU authorities had expressed concern over the “addictive” behavior this would encourage in young users in particular.
In February, the EU launched an investigation into whether TikTok properly took steps to mitigate negative effects for minors on the app, such as behavioral addictions, radicalization, and privacy, and whether TikTok uses reasonable age verification tools.
Under the Digital Services Act, TikTok is required to abide by transparency rules and give researchers access to some of its data.
In Europe, the app attracts nearly 136 million monthly users, according to TikTok.
Chris Summers contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times