The European Union tightens its grip on TikTok in the face of accusations of interference in the presidential elections in Romania that the pro-Russian ultranationalist candidate, Calin Georgescu, won. The European Commission has activated a “retention order” requiring the company to “freeze and preserve data related to real or foreseeable systemic risks that its service could pose in electoral processes and civic discourse in the EU.” .
Brussels’ decision, through the Digital Services Law, means that the Chinese company will have to preserve relevant information about content recommendation systems in the event of a possible future investigation. The movement comes after the Romanian intelligence services have confirmed interference during the elections and, part of the operation, through TikTok, a platform on which Georgescu’s videos had millions of views.
The European Commission forces TikTok to retain documentation on possible violations of the conditions that prohibit monetization for the promotion of political content. “TikTok must preserve internal documents and information relating to the design and operation of its recommendation systems, as well as the way in which it addresses the risk of intentional manipulation through coordinated inauthentic use of the service,” it says in a statement.
The declassification of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) documents reveals that a set of social media accounts and advanced disinformation strategies were used to amplify Georgescu’s presence in the final stretch of the presidential elections. In the case of TikTok, 25,000 accounts were activated two weeks before the first round of the presidential elections that were held on November 24 to promote Georgescu. Telegram is also targeted by Romanian intelligence.
Intelligence reports also detail that Georgescu’s “aggressive promotion” received undeclared external funding of more than one million euros. In the case of TikTok, it recognized payments of $381,000 over a month, made through the FameUP platform for ‘influencers’. These payments included offers of up to 1,000 euros per shared video, according to the intelligence documents. They also point to more than 85,000 cyberattacks, attributed to Russia, that affected Romania’s electoral systems before and during the elections.
Given this situation, the European Commission has decided to take a further step in the procedure, although the investigation into possible interference corresponds to the Romanian authorities. The retention order covers the period between November 24, the date of the first round of the Romanian presidential elections, until March 31, 2025. Therefore, it will also cover the second round and the elections in Germany called for next February 23.
Another measure has been the convening of the digital services coordinators of the 27 to address the measures that are being carried out and “the way to respond to new evidence, such as indications that accounts from other Member States have been directed to the Romanian diaspora,” the statement said: “In addition, the Commission is raising the available evidence in the informal Task Force on Cybercrisis, which includes the European Commission, the EEAS, Europol and ENISA (the Cybersecurity Agency of the EU). The Operational Group is in close contact with the Romanian cybersecurity authorities.”
Likewise, the community government has multiplied its contacts with the Chinese company and last week made a request for information on its management of the risks of information manipulation after doubts about the electoral processes raised already at the beginning of October.
The European Parliament held a debate this week with representatives of TikTok in Brussels who assured that measures had been taken to combat disinformation and denied that the pro-Russian candidate was favored. These explanations did not convince the liberal group, which sent a letter to the president, Roberta Metsola, whom it asked to summon the company’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew.
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