The European Union on Thursday issued a statement ordering the social media company TikTok to freeze data related to the Romanian elections on its platform.
According to Reuters, EU officials issued a “preservation order” based on the widely used Digital Services Act (DSA) in the alliance. The Digital Services Act is used to regulate how the world’s largest social media companies operate in Europe.
On the same day, the United States expressed concerns about potential foreign interference in the Romanian elections. Previously, the pro-Russian right-wing independent candidate Calin Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round of the Romanian presidential elections on November 24.
Despite the ruling left-wing party, the Social Democrats, becoming the largest party in the Romanian parliamentary elections held last Sunday and hoping to form a pro-EU coalition government, the right-wing parties also performed well in the parliamentary elections.
Documents declassified by Romanian security officials on Wednesday showed that through coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms, and paid promotions, Georgescu gained widespread publicity on the social media platform TikTok. However, Georgescu himself announced that he did not invest any money in the campaign.
Security officials said that these documents indicate that Russia has been targeting Romania.
Russia denied any interference in Romanian election activities.
Some analysts and diplomats say that if Georgescu wins in the runoff this Sunday, he is likely to try to reverse Romania’s pro-EU policies.
A TikTok spokesperson said that the company has been cooperating with the European Commission in the investigation and looks forward to uncovering the truth.