Brussels has threatened to open a probe into TikTok over its alleged failure to prevent the spread of disinformation and unauthorised campaigning on the social media platform in the run-up to Romania’s election last week.
The European Commission on Wednesday said that Romania’s national media watchdog has requested an official investigation by the Brussels-based regulator into TikTok, after a far-right candidate, C?lin Georgescu, who had become viral on the Chinese platform, unexpectedly topped the first round of the presidential vote on Sunday.
The Romanian complaint alleges that TikTok’s algorithms “amplified” Georgescu’s content to the detriment of other candidates, said the regulator’s vice-president Valentin-Alexandru Jucan.