The EU makes an urgent TikTok inquiry on Russia’s role in Romanian election turmoil

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LONDON (AP) — The European Union said Friday it sent TikTok an urgent request for more information about Romanian intelligence files suggesting that Moscow coordinated influencers on its platform to promote an election candidate who became the surprise front-runner in the nation’s presidential election.

The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch is using its sweeping digital rulebook to scrutinize the video-sharing app’s role in the vote. which saw the far-right populist Calin Georgescu coming from out of nowhere to take top spot. But the election was thrown into turmoil Friday after the country’s top court annulled results from the first round of voting.

Declassified files released by Romanian authorities earlier this week suggest that a pro-Russia campaign used the messaging app Telegram to recruit thousands of TikTok users to promote Georgescu.

It is unclear from the intelligence release whether Georgescu was aware of the alleged campaign or assisted in it.

European Commission officials said they asked the TikTok to comment on the files and to provide information on actions that it’s taking in response. It’s the second time the commission has asked the TikTok for information since the election’s first round of voting on Nov. 24, and comes a day after it ordered the Chinese-owned platform to retain all election-related files and evidence.

TikTok declined to comment.

“We are concerned about mounting indications of coordinated foreign online influence operation targeting ongoing Romanian elections, especially on TikTok,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a post on X.

TikTok has 24 hours to respond to the EU request, officials told a press briefing in Brussels

Virkunnen said also called on TikTok to “urgently redress” its policies on content moderation and amplification policies and comply with the bloc’s Digital Services Act, a wide-ranging set of rules designed to clean up social media platforms.

She had urged TikTok to step up resources “to counter information operations” ahead of a final vote planned for Sunday, when Georgescu was due to face pro-EU reformist Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union party. But now that the Romanian Constitutional Court has issued its unprecedented decision to cancel the initial results, the first round of voting will have to be held again.

Georgescu’s unexpected rise in the polls plunged the European Union and NATO country into turmoil and spurred the authorities to release the files.

Romania’s intelligence services alleged that one TikTok user paid $381,000 to influencers on the platform to promote content about Georgescu. They said they obtained information that “revealed an aggressive promotion campaign” to increase and accelerate the candidate’s popularity.

Some of the thousands of social media accounts used in the campaign were allegedly created years ago but were only activated in the weeks leading up to the first round vote, the files indicated.

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AP writer Stephen McGrath in Bucharest contributed to this report.