Romania is investigating the role of TikTok in the victory of a pro-Russian candidate in the first round of presidential elections
Romanian authorities are trying to figure out what role the Chinese social network TikTok could have played in the sensational results of the first round of the presidential election weekend, Politico writes. Unexpectedly for everyone, independent far-right politician Kelin Georgescu, accused of connections with the Kremlin, took first place.
On Thursday, November 28, Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense will hold an emergency meeting to discuss what risks social media and other popular Internet platforms may pose to the electoral process and the country.
Georgescu, 62, was virtually unknown outside Romania. Before this, he was not considered a serious presidential candidate and conducted his election campaign mainly on the Internet, on the TikTok platform.
European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier confirmed it had received a request to launch a “formal investigation into TikTok’s role in the Romanian elections” under the main social media law, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
We are closely monitoring developments,” Regnier said, adding that the EU “may open proceedings” if it has “evidence in our possession.”
The European Commission is monitoring TikTok’s compliance with the bloc’s new DSA rule, which sets rules for how major online platforms moderate content, including in political campaigns.
The Romanian regulator said the issues had already been “brought to the attention of the European Commission in recent months” and again on Tuesday.
Officials reported to TikTok “a variety of violations related to illegally shared content” and asked the platform to take action to ensure the election was conducted “in a lawful manner,” but the platform did not respond adequately.
The Romanian case puts the European Commission in a difficult position because an investigation into TikTok’s role in the fall in voting results could be seen as interference in national elections. Romanians will go to the polls again for parliamentary elections this weekend and the second round of presidential elections on December 8.
The commission does not interfere in national elections and seeks to ensure, within its mandate, a level playing field for all candidates, Regnier said.
Researchers are now looking into how Georgescu, who has amassed more than 370,000 followers on his TikTok account, has dealt with his sudden rise in polls by highlighting the activity around his online profile.
We believed that Tiktok was being misused and fueled by its misuse and the army of fake accounts that were being used for its purposes, said Bogdan Manolea, executive director of the Romanian campaign group the Technology and Internet Association.
Others pointed to the use of influencers who did not label their content as paid advertising. Paid advertising is prohibited by TikTok.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu spoke out on Tuesday, saying Georgescu’s TikTok campaign funding needs to be reconsidered:
This is a system, I don’t know how legal it is, I understood how the system was used. The source of funding, in my opinion, needs to be investigated, “follow the money.”
In a statement, TikTok spokesman in Brussels Paolo Ganino said that “highly speculative reports about the Romanian elections are inaccurate and misleading as most candidates registered on TikTok and the winners campaigned on other digital platforms besides ours.”
Source: Racurs
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