European Union Asks TikTok To Freeze Data Related To The Romanian Election

UNSPLASH/AMadeusmoga ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The European Union ordered social media company TikTok to freeze data related to the Romanian elections.

EU officials issued a "retention order" under the widely applicable Digital Services Act on the bloc, regulating the way the world's largest social media companies operate in Europe.

As reported by Reuters on Thursday, December 5, this move came on the same day as the United States voiced concern over the potential for foreign interference in the Romanian elections, after ultranationalist pro-Russian Calin Georgescu won in the first round of presidential elections on November 24.

The far-right parties also performed well in the Romanian parliamentary elections last week, although the ruling left-wing Social Democrats emerged as the biggest party and hoped to form a pro-EU coalition government.

Documents classified by Romanian security officials on Wednesday showed Georgescu being promoted on social media platform TikTok through coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms, and paid promotions. Georgescu himself stated that no funds were spent on the campaign.

The documents state Romania has been the target of "Russian aggressive hybrid attacks".

Russia denies any interference in the Romanian election campaign.

If Georgescu claims victory in Sunday's second-round vote, he will likely try to isolate Romania abroad and reverse his pro-EU approach, analysts and diplomats say.

"We have worked closely with the Commission (Europe) and will continue to do so. We look forward to proving the facts with respect to some speculation and inaccurate reports we see," said a Tiktok spokesperson.