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The investigation follows the EU’s orders earlier this month requesting TikTok to freeze internal documents.
The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against TikTok in relation to the platform’s obligations to assess and mitigate systematic risks to ensure election integrity in the context of the recent Romanian presidential elections on 24 November.
According to the Commission, the social media platform is suspected of breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and the ensuing investigation will look into the platform’s recommender systems, notably, the risks associated with its possible manipulation, as well as its policies on political advertisements and paid-for political content.
TikTok’s own advertising policy prohibits political content, stating that “users can share political content organically”, but that the platform does “not allow political content to feature in advertising”.
Moreover, the EU investigation will also look into whether TikTok “diligently” mitigated the risks posed by the regional and linguistic aspects of the Romanian elections.
A recent investigation by international NGO Global Witness found “significant failings” in TikTok’s ability to moderate disinformation and political content. Its findings showed that while some political content in English slipped through the app’s moderation systems, the platform fared much worse in Irish. It shared its results days before the Irish general elections on 29 November.
The EU said that the decision to launch the investigation takes into account information from declassified intelligence reports from Romanian authorities, the analysis of risk assessment reports submitted by TikTok in 2023 and 2024, the platform’s response to the Commission’s request for information earlier this month as well as internal documents submitted by TikTok.
Following far-right and pro-Russian presidential candidate Călin Georgescu’s victory in the first round of the Romanian elections on 24 November, questions were raised about how posts on TikTok could have led to his surprising victory.
On 4 December, the current Romanian president Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence documents which alleged that a network of thousands of social media accounts across TikTok and Telegram promoted Georgescu’s content.
“Romania is a target for aggressive Russian hybrid actions, including cyberattacks and information leaks … and sabotage,” said a document from the Foreign Intelligence Service.
Shortly after, Romania’s top court annulled the results of the first round of the country’s 2024 presidential elections, and the EU ordered TikTok to freeze and preserve internal documents related to the presidential election as well as internal data regarding its recommender system, how it addresses risks of manipulation and any infringements of its terms of service.
Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator will contribute its expertise and analysis to the investigation, the Commission said – TikTok’s EU base is established in Ireland.
“We must protect our democracies from any kind of foreign interference,” said Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
“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. It should be crystal clear that in the EU, all online platforms, including TikTok, must be held accountable.”
This is the third investigation into TikTok launched by the Commission, following an ongoing investigation opened in February over the protection of minors and harmful content and an investigation over TikTok Lite rewards, which concluded this August and forced the platform to withdraw the programme.
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