Global Witness: TikTok Pushes Far-Right Content in Romania 3x More

Just days before the second round of Romania’s presidential election, a new investigation by the international NGO Global Witness reveals that TikTok’s algorithm pushes users in Romania toward far-right political content at three times the rate of other political viewpoints.   The study was conducted on May 7–8, 2025, in Bucharest, using three newly created TikTok accounts designed to be politically neutral, each following the official accounts of both presidential candidates: George Simion (far-right) and Nicusor Dan (center).   Over a combined 30 minutes spent on the “For You” page, TikTok displayed 65 political posts. The findings showed: 74% promoted or favorably featured far-right figures or views. Only 26% reflected other political perspectives   “The results were strikingly unbalanced. Regardless of how we set up the accounts, TikTok persistently and overwhelmingly recommended far-right content,” Global Witness said in a press release.   The experiment was repeated three times, and the 3-to-1 ratio in favor of far-right content remained consistent in each run.   This investigation was released shortly before the rescheduled second round of presidential elections, following the annulment of the original November 2024 vote.   TikTok responded by rejecting the report’s conclusions, labeling the study “unscientific and misleading,” and arguing that the test users’ interactions do not reflect typical user behavior. However, the company emphasized its ongoing commitment to election integrity and its collaboration with EU authorities.   Global Witness clarified that it does not claim TikTok’s algorithm was intentionally designed to promote the far right. Instead, it warns that provocative, viral content—often extremist in nature—is favored by engagement-optimized algorithms, which can unintentionally skew political discourse.   “This algorithmic bias distorts the political landscape and risks undermining democratic election processes,” the NGO warned.   A similar investigation in December 2024, following ultranationalist C?lin Georgescu’s surprise win in the first round of the canceled election, found that 73% of participants reported seeing Georgescu frequently in the two weeks leading up to the vote.   “Using a politically neutral account, we found the TikTok ‘For You’ page showed over five times more pro-Georgescu content than that of his opponent,” Global Witness stated at the time.   The NGO concluded that TikTok’s current measures fail to provide balanced exposure to politically neutral users and warned that other elections may also be at risk if stronger action is not taken.   “Our findings suggest TikTok has not done enough to prevent its algorithm from disproportionately amplifying far-right content, potentially threatening the fairness of future elections,” the organization added.   In December 2024, the European Commission launched a formal investigation into TikTok for potential electoral manipulation in Romania under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU law requiring platforms to assess and mitigate risks to electoral processes.   Global Witness now urges the Commission to continue and deepen its inquiry, stressing that social platforms must be held accountable for the political consequences of their algorithmic design.   Founded in 1993 in London, Global Witness is an international NGO specializing in investigations and campaigns related to environmental abuses and human rights.