The European Union orders TikTok to save data related to the Romanian elections

LONDON (AP) – European Union regulators ordered TikTok on Thursday to withhold any information related to Romania’s presidential election, after the country’s top security service released intelligence that Moscow orchestrated an online campaign to support a candidate who emerged as a surprise front-runner. . .

As the debate heats up in the election, the governing body of the 27-nation bloc is using its digital rulebook to step up scrutiny of the role played by video-sharing platforms.

Right-wing Populist Calin Georgescu emerged from obscurity to take the lead in the first round of Romania’s presidential vote on Nov. 24, throwing the European Union and NATO countries into turmoil. In an unprecedented move, President Klaus Iohannis ordered the release on Wednesday of intelligence files accusing the entire network of thousands of social media accounts across platforms such as TikTok and Telegram promoting Georgescu’s content.

The European Commission said it had issued TikTok with a “final order” demanding it “stop and preserve data” related to so-called systemic vulnerabilities that the video-sharing platform service could cause in “electoral and public discourse processes” in the EU.

TikTok “has already been cooperating with the Commission and will continue to do so,” the company said in a statement.

The commission said that TikTok must adhere to internal documents and information about the design and operation of its programs that recommend content to users. It should also keep files on how it deals with the risk of fake accounts being used systematically to exploit users.

Officials told a daily briefing in Brussels that the commission had received the intelligence files.

“I can confirm that we have received it and we are currently working on these documents now,” said commission spokesman Thomas Regnier.

Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s senior vice president for sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a statement, “This preservation order is an important step in helping investigators to find the truth and adds to our official requests for information seeking information following the declassification of secret documents yesterday.”

The commission is using the Digital Services Act to scrutinize TikTok, which many observers say played a major role in Georgescu’s victory in the first round vote. The DSA is a sweeping set of regulations that came into force last year aimed at cleaning up large online platforms and protecting internet users, under threat of hefty fines.

“We have a tool at our disposal where we make sure that the biggest platforms on the Internet have their role and we make sure that their resources are not misused to influence voters and influence people,” said Regnier.

On Sunday, Georgescu will face pro-EU reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party in the final vote.

In releasing the declassified files, intelligence authorities said the information they had discovered “revealed an aggressive promotion campaign” to increase and accelerate Georgescu’s popularity. According to the files, Romanian secret services say one TikTok user paid $381,000 to other users to promote Georgescu’s content.

The commission has already asked TikTok twice for details on its election-related endorsement programs, including a second request on Friday for more information on how it manages the risks of “data fraud.”

Earlier this week, when questioned by a committee of lawmakers of the European Parliament, the managers of TikTok said that they found many networks of electoral influence, including one that supported Georgescu but defended the integrity of the speaker’s electoral practices.

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Associated Press writer Stephen McGrath from Romania contributed to this report.