EU Demands TikTok to Freeze Romanian Election Data Amid Russian Interference Concerns

The European Union has called on the social media platform TikTok to freeze data related to elections in Romania. This request was outlined in an EU statement published on Thursday, December 5, as reported by Reuters.

According to the agency, EU officials issued a “retention order” under the expansive Digital Services Act, which governs the operations of the world’s largest social media platforms within Europe.

Declassified documents from Romanian security services reveal that far-right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu was heavily promoted on TikTok through coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms, and paid advertising. Georgescu claims he did not spend any money on this campaign.

The documents state that Romania has been targeted by “aggressive hybrid attacks from Russia.” However, Russia denies any involvement in Romanian election campaigns.

"We have already been cooperating with the [European] Commission and will continue to do so. We look forward to establishing the facts in light of some of the speculation and inaccurate reports we have seen," a Tiktok spokesperson said.

Russia’s election interference has been observed in numerous countries, including Moldova, Georgia, and the United States.

In late October, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for an investigation into the Georgian parliamentary elections. Their concerns followed reports of irregularities after the Moscow-aligned Georgian Dream party claimed nearly 54% of the vote on October 26.