The European Commission officially opens a formal proceeding against TikTok for a suspected violation of the Digital Services Act, or DSA. The act is linked to “TikTok’s obligation to adequately assess and mitigate systemic risks related to election integrity, particularly in the context of the recent Romanian presidential elections on November 24,” informs a statement.
“Following serious indications that foreign actors interfered in the Romanian presidential election using TikTok, we are now fully investigating whether TikTok violated the Digital Services Law by failing to address these risks. It should be clear that in the EU all online platforms, including TikTok, must be held accountable,” comments EU Executive President Ursula von der Leyen.
The investigation launched by the Commission takes into account the intelligence reports declassified by the Romanian authorities, from which evidence emerges of a large-scale operation, of probable Russian origin, designed to manipulate the results of the Romanian presidential elections, illegitimately favoring the pro-Russian candidate and anti-Western Calin Georgescu. Based on what was discovered, the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the ballot less than two days before the vote. The formal proceeding is also based on the analysis of the risk assessment reports submitted by TikTok in 2023 and 2024, on the responses to the Commission’s requests for information and on internal documents provided by TikTok, the Commission points out.
The Commission’s investigation will focus on aspects of risk management for elections or civic discourse. TikTok’s recommendation systems will be put under the magnifying glass, considering the risks related to coordinated manipulation through bots, but also the platform’s policies on political advertising and paid political content.
The EU executive intends to investigate “whether TikTok has diligently mitigated the risks posed by specific regional and linguistic aspects of national elections”, explains the statement. “Should the Commission’s suspicions prove true, these shortcomings would constitute a violation of the DSA. The Commission will now conduct an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority. The initiation of a formal proceeding does not prejudge its outcome.”
After the formal initiation of proceedings, the Commission “will continue to collect evidence, for example by sending further requests for information, conducting monitoring actions, interviews, inspections and requesting access to algorithms”. The European authorities could request TikTok access to the data and documents that the platform was obliged to “freeze” and keep on the basis of an order given by the EU executive on December 5th. The DSA does not provide any legal deadline for the conclusion of the formal procedure. This is the third investigation launched by the Commission against TikTok, after the one opened in February 2024 (still ongoing) and the one closed with commitments last August.
