London London. The European Commission today launched formal proceedings against social media firm TikTok over its failure to limit election interference, particularly in the Romanian presidential election last month. The Commission said it would request information and investigate political advertising. and will examine TikTok's policy on paid political content as well as TikTok's system for generating recommendations and the risks of their manipulation.
The commencement of formal proceedings gives the Commission the authority to take further enforcement steps and accept the commitments made by TikTok. There is no specific deadline to complete the proceedings. TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, said it has protected the integrity of its platform through more than 150 polls around the world and has informed the European Commission about its efforts. Comprehensive information is provided.
It said it does not accept paid political advertisements and proactively removes content that violates its policies on misinformation and hate speech. The commission on December 5 banned TikTok under the block's Comprehensive Digital Services Act (DSA ), which regulates the operations in Europe of the world's largest social media companies.
Romania's top court later annulled the presidential election following allegations of Russian interference and the victory of pro-Russian ultra-nationalist Calin Georgescu in the first round. The commission will also contest German parliamentary elections in February and Croatia's presidential election, which begins on December 29. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the new investigation found serious indications that foreign actors had interfered in the Romanian presidential election.
“We must protect our democracies from foreign interference of any kind. Whenever we suspect such interference, especially during elections, we must act swiftly and firmly,” he said in a statement. “This is the third investigation launched by the Commission against TikTok under the DSA, both related to risks to minors. One has been shut down after TikTok committed to removing TikTok Lite Rewards from the EU.
Comments are closed.