Following allegations of interference in the Romanian presidential election last month, the European Commission formally launched an investigation against TikTok on Tuesday (17 December).
The EU executive said it will look into the TikTok recommender algorithm and the risk of paid-for political content on the Chinese social media platform. It will also investigate whether TikTok has put enough effort into addressing the risks connected to specific regional and linguistic aspects of the elections.
The commission will now request further information, conduct interviews and monitoring actions to determine if the social media platform violated EU law.
Under the Digital Service Act (DSA), which governs the activities of the largest social media corporations in Europe, the commission has ordered TikTok to freeze all data regarding real or predictable threats its service could present to EU elections and public discourse.
The order concerns all national elections within EU member states from 24 November until next March, covering the German parliamentary election in February and the Croatian presidential election which starts in December.
The European Commission previously said its digital rules are safeguarding democracy.
But on Tuesday, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement: “We must protect our democracies from any kind of foreign interference. Whenever we suspect such interference, especially during elections, we have to act swiftly and firmly."
"It should be crystal clear that in the EU, all online platforms, including TikTok, must be held accountable," she also said.
In a recent report, Berlin-based NGO Democracy Reporting International (DRI) showed how TikTok helped catapult Calin Georgescu, a pro-Kremlin ultra-nationalist to pole position.
Since then, the Romanian constitutional court has annulled the presidential election results.