DIGITAL LIFE
The European Commission announced today that it has increased monitoring to try to find propaganda on social media as part of the presidential elections in Romania, namely TikTok.
The European Commission announced on December 5, 2024 that it has increased monitoring to try to find propaganda on social media in the context of the presidential elections in Romania, namely TikTok.
In a statement, the community executive revealed that, "in the context of the elections in Romania, the Commission has increased its monitoring of TikTok, as part of the legislation on digital services."
However, the European Commission warned that it is only carrying out monitoring to investigate possible breaches of legislation by that social network and is not monitoring the elections, "which are a matter for the Romanian authorities and the population" of the country.
In this sense, Ursula von der Leyen's executive issued a "retention order" that obliges TikTok to "freeze and preserve" all information that could represent a breach of legislation for digital platforms.
The European Commission hopes to use this information to find out whether the digital platform violated the directive and the obligations it signed up to continue operating in European Union countries.
The "retention order", in the context of "national elections in the European Union", not just in Romania, requires the preservation of all information between November 24 and March 31, 2025.
At issue are accusations of Russian propaganda disseminated by TikTok, with anti-European rhetoric and which allegedly helped in the victory in the first round of Calin Georgescu, an independent candidate, aligned with far-right ideals, who is critical of the European Union, the Atlantic Alliance and who praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The European Commission maintained that it has no preferences for a candidate and that it is only checking whether TikTok has failed in its obligations, namely preventing the spread of propaganda and disinformation.
The community executive also rejected that it is reacting to an event, claiming that the decisions put into practice are preventive. At a press conference in Brussels today, the Commission's deputy spokesperson said that the European Union is at the forefront of digital legislation and accountability for digital platforms.
Romania’s constitutional court has annulled the first round of the country’s 2024 presidential election, which was narrowly won by far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, amid allegations of Russian interference. The landmark ruling means that a runoff scheduled for Sunday (8), where Georgescu would have faced centrist rival Elena Lasconi, will no longer take place. In a press release, the court said the annulment was based on Article 146 of the constitution, emphasizing the need to ensure the fairness and legality of the electoral process. Friday’s ruling ends a troubled electoral cycle in Romania, with the same court last week ordering a recount of the first-round votes. It also comes just days after the vote was hit by fears of foreign interference after documents discarded from Romania’s top security council found evidence of “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks.” They also showed that Georgescu was boosted on TikTok — the social media platform on which he largely ran his campaign — through algorithms, coordinated accounts and paid promotion, Reuters reported.
In addition, the documents revealed a series of cyberattacks during the election period.
Georgescu, 62, began his campaign with single-digit support but made a shocking surge, narrowly winning the first round of the election with 22.9% of the vote to Lasconi’s 19.2%.
mundophone
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