Bucharest has filed a complaint following the victory of a far-right candidate, who gained significant traction on the Chinese platform TikTok, in the presidential vote.
The European Commission has threatened to launch a wide-ranging investigation into TikTok over allegations of failing to prevent the spread of disinformation and unauthorized political campaigning in the lead-up to last week’s Romanian elections.
On Wednesday, the Commission confirmed that Romania’s national media watchdog requested the EU regulatory body to initiate a formal probe. This came after far-right candidate Călin Georgescu, who became notably popular on TikTok, unexpectedly led the first round of the presidential vote on Sunday.
Romanian authorities allege that TikTok’s algorithms “amplified” Georgescu’s content at the expense of other candidates, said Valentin-Alexandru Jucan, deputy chairman of the media watchdog.
TikTok, classified as a “very large online platform” under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), is obligated to assess and mitigate systemic risks related to election processes, according to the Commission.
“If the Commission suspects a breach based on the evidence at hand, it may launch a compliance investigation into TikTok’s adherence to DSA obligations.” a statement said.
Companies found in violation face fines of up to 6% of their annual global revenue. In 2023, TikTok, owned by ByteDance, reported a revenue of $110 billion.
TikTok denied any wrongdoing, stating it “aggressively” enforces a voluntary code of conduct to combat election-related disinformation. The platform added that it is actively collaborating with Romania’s electoral commission to promote reliable election information.
Ahead of Sunday’s vote, Romania’s electoral authority ordered Georgescu to remove social media clips not clearly marked as campaign materials. While he scaled back official campaign posts on his TikTok channel, many viral videos were shared by fan accounts on election day.
TikTok acknowledged receiving complaints from the Romanian electoral commission about certain videos lacking campaign identifiers and acted within 24 hours, faster than required by Romanian law, according to a source familiar with the matter.
On Tuesday, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu suggested the possibility of foreign funding behind Georgescu’s highly successful online campaign, potentially violating national financing laws. He urged authorities to investigate and ensure such incidents don’t recur during the second round of elections on December 8.
Outgoing President Klaus Iohannis has called an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Thursday to address potential threats to the country’s electoral IT infrastructure.
Georgescu, who once expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin during the invasion of Ukraine, denies ties to Russia and claims he spent “zero” money on his campaign.
This case marks the second recent controversy involving TikTok and EU election processes. Last month, Brussels requested details from TikTok about its measures to prevent interference by malicious actors and mitigate election-related risks.
Earlier this year, the EU also launched a DSA investigation into TikTok to assess whether it adequately protects minors from harmful content and online addiction. That inquiry remains ongoing.
