TikTok breaches electoral legislation in Romania, European Digital Rights (EDRi) says
TikTok breaches electoral legislation in Romania, European Digital Rights (EDRi) says
ApTI and 20 other NGOs call upon the European Commission and the national authorities to investigate, as elections are still ongoing.
Romanian civil society is alarmed about political advertisement on TikTok breaching European and national laws and how that benefited an extremist candidate in the elections. EDRi member ApTI with 20 other NGOs from Romania call upon the European Commission and the national authorities to take swift action and investigate, as elections are still ongoing.
Following the role that TikTok has played in the first round of presidential elections in Romania on 24.11.2024, fully ignoring DSA requirements, ApTI, together with 20 other NGOs from Romania rang the alarm. In effect, the civil society organsations demanded rapid reactions that mitigate the risks related to the electoral process, in an open letter sent to the national digital services coordinator (ANCOM) that implements DSA in Romania and to the European Commission as coordinator for the same regulation regarding very large online platforms (VLOPS).
Romania has suffered a great political shock after an unexpected win in the first round of the presidential elections. A previously unknown candidate has managed an incredible “performance” in the last weeks of the campaign: to grow his audience on TikTok at a pace that seems artificially generated.
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The platform has catalysed the electoral content of an extremist candidate, allowing posting from coordinated fake accounts and failing to flag its content as election advertising. The winning candidate claimed that he has spent no financial resources during this campaign.
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Under [EU's Digital Service Act] DSA rules, VLOPS like TikTok would have a legal obligation to be accountable for their role as intermediaries in online activities, in particular in the context of electoral processes. In the context of the elections in Romania, TikTok has implemented almost none of the specific measures identified in chapter 3.2.1. of the European Commission’s Guidelines to VLOPS on mitigating systemic risks to electoral processes under the DSA, published on April 26, 2024.
TikTok’s lack of transparency, public outreach and accountability for its major role in the Romanian digital information ecosystem is unacceptable in the electoral context presented above and in the context of the DSA. Romanian civil society organisations demand swift action
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The European Commission has issued a “retention order” to TikTok under its DSA, 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 "in the context of the ongoing Romanian elections".
Commission, online platforms and civil society increase monitoring during Romanian elections
TikTok must preserve internal documents and information regarding the design and functioning of its recommender systems, as well as the way it addresses the risk of intentional manipulation through coordinated inauthentic use of the service. The Commission is ordering preservation of documents and information regarding any systematic infringement of TikTok's terms of service prohibiting the use of monetisation features for the promotion of political content on the service. The retention order concerns national elections in the European Union between 24 November 2024 until 31 March 2025.