Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) - The EU said on Tuesday it had opened a formal investigation into TikTok following allegations the platform was used by Russia to sway the result of Romania’s later annulled presidential election.

The probe, under a mammoth law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), centres on concerns the short-video app failed to “assess and mitigate systemic risks” linked to election integrity, the European Commission said.

The DSA forces the world’s largest tech firms to do more to protect European users online and clamp down on illegal content.

Moscow is regularly accused of orchestrating disinformation campaigns in favour of candidates that could be favourable to it, in the EU and elsewhere.

“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,” said commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Authorities in Bucharest have alleged Russian meddling and “preferential treatment” by TikTok of far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, who unexpectedly topped the first round of voting for Romania’s presidency on November 24.

“Following serious indications that foreign actors interfered in the Romanian presidential elections by using TikTok, we are now thoroughly investigating whether TikTok has violated the Digital Services Act by failing to tackle such risks,” said von der Leyen.

TikTok said it had taken “robust actions” to tackle election-related misinformation and protect the integrity of its platform “through over 150 elections around the world”.

Russia has insisted it did not interfere in the election.

Georgescu’s surprise win sparked alarm in the NATO and EU member that borders Ukraine, amid fears that a second-round confirmation could have seen Romania join the EU’s far-right bloc and undermine European unity against Moscow.

But the country constitutional court later annulled the electoral process by ruling it was “marred… by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation”.

The move followed a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of “massive” social media promotion and cyberattacks.

The EU said the decision to open the probe was in part based on declassified intelligence reports by the Romanian authorities.

The investigation would focus on the TikTok’s “recommender systems” – which uses data to suggest users content they might like – amid suspicions it was exploited for “coordinated inauthentic manipulation”.

The platform’s policies on political advertisements and paid-for political content would also be scrutinised, said the European executive, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog under the DSA.

- Covert networks -

The probe is the third the commission has launched against TikTok, which risks fines of up to six percent of its global turnover.

Platforms deemed guilty of serious and repeated violations can also be banned from operating in Europe.

The commission had already announced that it was stepping up its monitoring of TikTok in the wake of Romania’s vote.

Earlier this month it ordered the video-sharing app to “freeze and preserve” data related to the risks its service could pose on “electoral processes and civic discourse in the EU”.

The firm owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance said it was cooperating with the commission as well as regional and national authorities.

“We do not accept paid political advertisements, we proactively remove content for violating our policies on misinformation, harassment and hate speech,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

According to TikTok, it detected and disrupted five small covert networks and removed hundreds of thousands of fake accounts as well as millions of fake likes and followers in connection with the Romanian election.

Romanian authorities last month alleged that Georgescu, a 62-year-old former civil servant, benefited from “massive exposure” on TikTok by not being labelled as a “political candidate”.

The platform has eight million users in the country of almost 20 million people, according to data supplied to the Commission by the company.

The commission stressed that the opening of formal proceedings does not prejudge the probe’s outcome and there is no deadline for its completion.

“I am confident that our investigation into TikTok’s practices will contribute to a safer and more trustworthy online environment for all EU citizens,” said Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s vice-president for tech sovereignty.