Russia Used TikTok to Influence Romanian Elections, Local Intelligence Reports
Romanian intelligence believes that Russia influenced the presidential election through the Chinese social network TikTok. AP reported on this. The European Union said on December 6, 2024, it sent TikTok an urgent request for more information concerning Romanian intelligence files.
Intelligence indicates that Russia coordinated influencers on TikTok to promote an election candidate who became the surprise front-runner in the presidential campaign in Romania. "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," AP wrote. It is unclear from the intelligence release whether Georgescu was aware of the alleged campaign or assisted in it.
Romanian politician Calin Georgescu.
Photo credits: Alexandru Dobre/Copyright 2024 The AP
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 November 24, and comes a day after it ordered the Chinese-owned platform to retain all election-related files and evidence. This is not the first time TikTok has been in the headlines in recent days, as in another part of the world in the United States, TikTok lost an attempt to overturn a law that could have led to a ban on the platform in that country.
According to CNN, a U.S. appeals court upheld the law in a ruling Friday. Denying TikTok's argument that the law was unconstitutional, the judges found that the law does not "contravene the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States," nor does it "violate the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws." The ruling means that the platform is one step closer to facing a U.S. ban--unless it can convince Chinese parent-company ByteDance to sell and find a buyer--starting on January 19, 2025.
After the deadline, U.S. app stores and internet services could face hefty fines for hosting TikTok if it is not sold.