EU considering TikTok probe over election shock – FT

The bloc has received a complaint from Romania, alleging the platform “amplified” anti-NATO presidential candidate Calin Georgescu’s content

The European Commission has received a complaint from Romania’s national media watchdog Ancom urging a probe into TikTok’s handling of the country’s presidential election, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing a written statement it received from Brussels.

Calin Georgescu, who is a critic of NATO and opposes arming Ukraine, surged into a lead, stunning mainstream candidates in the first round of the presidential election last Sunday. TikTok was reportedly a central part of his campaign communications strategy.

The Chinese-owned social media company is deemed to be a “very large online platform” under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and therefore is obliged to “to assess and mitigate systemic risks related to electoral processes.”

“If the commission suspects a violation based on the evidence available to us, it may open a proceeding to verify TikTok’s compliance with the DSA obligations,” Brussels told the FT.

Ancom pledged to address the issue with the EU on Tuesday, alleging TikTok had “not acted swiftly” on its election-related requests.

Separately, the EU regulator’s vice-president Valentin-Alexandru Jucan alleged the platform could have “amplified” content by Georgescu.

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The social media platform has already rejected all the allegations. “Reports about the Romanian elections are inaccurate and misleading, as most candidates have established a TikTok presence and the winners campaigned on other digital platforms beyond ours,” it said in a statement.

The second round of the Romanian presidential election is scheduled for December 8, when Calin Georgescu, who garnered nearly 23% of the votes, will face Elena Lasconi, a candidate fielded by the liberal Save Romania Union (USR) party. Lasconi got just over 19% of the votes during the first round.

Georgescu’s win has come as a shock in Romania, as he had polled in the single digits mere days before the election. A former member of the right-wing populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, Georgescu ran as an independent and conducted his campaign primarily on TikTok.

The outcome of the election has prompted assorted allegations against him. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, for instance, alleged an online campaign such as Georgescu’s could have exceeded national spending limits and that “foreign funding” could not be excluded. The candidate has rejected the allegations, claiming he spent “zero” funds on the campaign, with everything done by volunteers.

Romania’s top security body, the Supreme Defense Council, is set to meet on Thursday to discuss the election and analyze “possible risks to national security generated by the actions of state and non-state cyber parties.” The meeting has been announced by the office of the country’s outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, who leads the body.