CNA seeking EC investigation into TikTok's latest activity in Romania

The National Audiovisual Council (CNA) is notifying the European Commission about the activity of the TikTok platform, given that despite its pledge to stay clear of political advertising, the social media app has allowed independent candidate Calin Georgescu to campaign."We are referring to the design or functioning of services, such as TikTok, including algorithmic systems and the ways they are used. We are of the opinion that TikTok algorithms have been obviously enhanced with content favorable to a certain candidate, generating imbalance in the electoral competition and endangering political pluralism. All this while the TikTok platform itself undertakes, through its own rules, not to favor politics and not to promote political content, much less a funded one. Or the questionable issues the Central Electoral Bureau has also decided to look into, related to the fact that the candidate did not declare any expenses, raise more than serious question marks," CNA member Valentin Jucan declared on broadcaster Digi 24.The CNA is requesting the European Commission, specifically the Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology, to initiate an official investigation into the TikTok platform's latest activity in Romania."We are calling on the European Commission to ask TikTok to publish an assessment of the democratic risks related to its activity in Romania and to impose coercive measures and sanctions for all identified regulation violations. It is certain that, if the European Commission mechanisms find that our complaint is well-founded, the sanctions may be to the tune of a certain percentage of the company's global turnover," Jucan pointed out.He admitted that we will "probably" not have a result before the second round of the presidential election."This means that all the institutions responsible for protecting democracy must set their own mechanisms in motion and convey to the society that we are really in the situation of turning towards Russia or remaining a free and pro-Western country," emphasized Jucan, who specified that "the notification will be sent out in a few hours."CNA president Monica Gubernat declared in Tuesday's meeting that all social media platforms, such as TikTok, must report to the European Commission the measures they are taking to combat certain systemic risks."I am referring to the systemic risks any platform must combat, and we should see what TikTok has done in this regard. All these platforms must report to the European Commission the measures they are taking to counter these systemic risks. At this moment, I consider that we have a systemic risk regarding unassumed political advertising, despite TikTok having pledged to steer clear of political advertising. And I would ask you to also refer in this notification to the Central Electoral Bureau's decision to ban Mr. Calin Georgescu's materials. Also, we should get in touch with Expert Forum specialists, because they too have done some analyses that I would like to attach, provided, of course, that they also agree," Monica Gubernat pointed out.