Romania: Announced Supreme Council of National Defence investigation into TikTok over alleged electoral legislation violations

On 28 November 2024, the Supreme Council of National Defence (CSAT) announced an investigation into TikTok for allegedly providing preferential treatment to a candidate in the presidential elections. It was stated that TikTok did not designate the candidate’s account as political and did not label campaign materials with the unique identification code required by the Permanent Electoral Authority. This was identified as non-compliance with electoral legislation, which increased the visibility of the candidate compared to others whose content was filtered by the platform’s algorithms. The CSAT also noted that TikTok had not implemented the provisions of the Central Electoral Bureau's (BEC) Decision, contrary to prior official communications with Romanian authorities. The Council instructed national security authorities, electoral bodies, and criminal investigation agencies to take the necessary measures to investigate these allegations and ensure adherence to legal requirements governing the electoral process.