EC opens proceedings against TikTok for election risks after Romanian presidential elections
The European Commission (EC) has opened formal proceedings against Chinese social media platform TikTok for a suspected breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The breach is in relation to the latter's obligation to properly assess and mitigate systemic risks linked to election integrity, notably in the context of the recent Romanian presidential elections on November 24, which were annulled by the Constitutional Court.
The proceedings will focus on the management of risks to elections or civic discourse, linked to TikTok's recommender systems. It will also look into the coordinated manipulation or automated exploitation of the service.
Should the Commission's suspicions be proven correct, the shortcomings would constitute infringements of Articles 34(1), 34(2) and 35(1) DSA, the EC explained.
The decision to open an investigation takes into account information received from declassified intelligence reports by the Romanian authorities, as well as third-party reports. The investigation also follows the analysis of the risk assessment reports submitted by TikTok in 2023 and 2024, the replies to the Commission's requests for information, and internal documents provided by TikTok.
“Following serious indications that foreign actors interfered in the Romanian presidential elections by using TikTok, we are now thoroughly investigating whether TikTok has violated the Digital Services Act by failing to tackle such risks. It should be crystal clear that in the EU, all online platforms, including TikTok, must be held accountable,” said Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, cited in the press release.
After the formal opening of proceedings, the European Commission will continue to gather evidence, for example by sending additional requests for information, conducting monitoring actions, interviews, inspections, and requesting access to algorithms. Such requests for information may require TikTok to provide data and documents it has been obliged to retain based on the retention order imposed by the Commission on December 5.
The opening of formal proceedings empowers the EC to take further enforcement steps, such as interim measures, and non-compliance decisions. The Commission is also empowered to accept any commitment made by TikTok to remedy the matters subject to the proceeding.
On December 5, 2024, before the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the presidential elections and ordered their restart from scratch, the Commission issued a retention order to TikTok, ordering the platform 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.
This is the third investigation that the Commission has launched against TikTok, following the ongoing investigation opened on February 19, 2024 and the investigation closed with commitments in August 2024.
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