Two weeks after evidence emerged of Russian interference in the Romanian elections (see EUROPE 13533/21), the European Commission announced on Tuesday 17 December that it had officially opened an investigation against TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The EU suspects the platform of having poorly managed the risks to the smooth running of the election period online, and of not having paid enough attention to the problems “posed by specific regional and linguistic aspects of national elections”.
TikTok’s recommendation system and the social network’s internal policy on political advertising are of particular concern to the Commission.
According to several European officials, it was the publication of the Romanian secret service documents that provided the evidence needed to prompt the EU to initiate a formal procedure (see EUROPE 13540/17).
Political advertising content in favour of pro-Russia candidate Călin Georgescu proliferated on TikTok, according to the Commission, which believes it may have been promoted by bots and fake accounts in interference actions with a modus operandi resembling those of Russian origin.
The data used by TikTok to feed its recommendation algorithm is suspected of having been exploited for “coordinated inauthentic manipulation”.
With a number of elections scheduled in Europe over the coming months (in Croatia at the end of December, in Germany in February), the EU hopes to be able to resolve potential irregularities before they take place and avoid risking their integrity.
Several internal sources cite the current context of hybrid threats and cybersecurity concerns as an additional motivating factor.
Ten days ago, the Commission asked TikTok to “freeze and preserve data related to actual or foreseeable systemic risks its service could pose on electoral processes and civic discourse in the EU” (see EUROPE 13539/10).
At this stage, there is no evidence that TikTok has infringed European legislation, the Commission points out, adding that the proceedings are unrelated to the criminal investigation in Romania. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)