The European Union (EU) has launched legal action against TikTok, accusing the platform of failing to prevent Russian interference in last month’s Romanian presidential election.
According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, the EU Commission plans to investigate whether TikTok adequately addressed the risks of foreign interference and complied with the Digital Services Act (DSA) in labeling political content. The Commission had previously ordered TikTok to preserve all data related to the Romanian election.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that there are serious indications that foreign actors are using TikTok to interfere in the Romanian election. She said the European Commission thoroughly investigated TikTok’s failure to mitigate these risks and emphasized the importance of safeguarding democracy from all forms of foreign interference.
The first round of Romania’s recent presidential election saw an unexpected surge in support for Călin Georgescu, a candidate with pro-Russian leanings. Given Georgescu’s previously low approval ratings, this surprising outcome has raised suspicions about potential Russian influence through TikTok-based campaigning.
TikTok responded by stating that they have provided comprehensive information to the electoral commission concerning their efforts to address election-related issues and are continuing to collaborate with EU and local authorities. The company further elaborated that it had updated its in-app election center with links to the official electoral commission website and had swiftly suspended networks identified as related to the election.
Under the Digital Services Act, online platforms that fail to comply with its rules could be penalized up to 6% of their annual global revenue.
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