EU orders TikTok to preserve data in Romania election interference probe

In early December 2024 the European Commission issued a retention order to TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA), requiring the platform to freeze and preserve internal documents and data tied to risks its service could pose to electoral processes and civic discourse in the EU. The order covered national elections across the bloc from 24 November 2024 until 31 March 2025. It came days after the first round of Romania's presidential election on 24 November, in which the previously low-polling, Russia-friendly independent Calin Georgescu unexpectedly led the field after a viral TikTok campaign.

The Commission acted after Romania declassified intelligence pointing to suspected foreign interference. The files alleged a coordinated, paid promotion operation on TikTok behind Georgescu's surge, with similarities to past Russian information operations. Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the election on 06 December 2024. The retention order required TikTok to preserve material on the design and functioning of its recommender systems, how it addresses intentional manipulation, and any systematic breach of its rules barring paid political promotion.

The retention measure preserves evidence pending further investigation. On 17 December 2024 the Commission opened formal proceedings against TikTok over suspected failures to assess and mitigate systemic risks to election integrity, particularly its recommender systems and political advertising. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cited "serious indications that foreign actors interfered in the Romanian presidential elections by using TikTok."

The EU regulatory action is documented fact: a DSA retention order followed by formal proceedings against TikTok over election-integrity risks. The underlying interference is an assessment rather than a proven conclusion. Romanian declassified intelligence and the Constitutional Court framed Georgescu's rise as the product of a coordinated, likely state-backed manipulation campaign resembling Russian methods, but Russia was not conclusively named as the perpetrator. The Commission's case concerns whether TikTok met its legal duties, not a finding of Kremlin authorship. Attribution should remain hedged: suspected Russian-linked interference, EU enforcement confirmed.