The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it opened formal proceedings against TikTok under the suspicion that the social media platform breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) related to assessing and preventing systemic risks concerning elections, "notably in the context of the recent Romanian presidential elections on 24 November."
The proceedings will pertain to managing election-related risks linked to TikTok's recommender systems and its policies on political ads and sponsored political content. The European Commission decided to open the investigation after receiving information from the Romanian authorities and third-party reports. The formal proceedings have no legal deadline imposed by the DSA, and they allow the Commission to demand additional information from TikTok and monitor its actions and algorithms.
"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," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
