Newly disclosed documents reviewed by the US House Judiciary Committee claim that Romania’s annulled 2024 presidential election became a test case for using the EU’sDigital Services Act (DSA) to pressure platforms and influence electoral outcomes in member states. The report alleges a sustained, coordinated effort by Romanian authorities and European Commission officials to suppress political speech supporting anti-establishment candidate Călin Georgescu, who won the first round before being barred from the runoff.
According to the committee’s 160-page investigation, Romanian security services alleged his victory resulted from a Russian-orchestrated TikTok campaign—a claim the report says was unsupported by evidence. Internal TikTok documents, cited in the report, indicate the platform consistently found no evidence of a coordinated Russian influence operation boosting Georgescu and shared these assessments with EU and Romanian officials, who did not publicly acknowledging them.
The report details how Romanian authorities allegedly abused the DSA and other mechanisms before and after the first-round vote. It describes a series of aggressive content takedown requests to TikTok, including broad orders to remove all materials featuring Georgescu images—requests the platform refused. The committee says authorities also used “expansive interpretations” of their power to mandate global removals, aiming to block content for Romania’s large diaspora. Furthermore, EU-funded NGOs designated as “Trusted Flaggers” under the DSA allegedly made politically biased removal demands, flagging hundreds of posts related to Georgescu’s positions on issues like the environment and Schengen as “pro-Georgescu and anti-progressive.”
Following the election annulment, the European Commission pressed TikTok on its moderation practices and opened a formal DSA investigation in December 2024, accusing the platform of failing to assess systemic risks to election integrity. The committee found the Commission sought deeper influence over TikTok’s internal processes, meeting with its product team rather than compliance staff.
The report frames the Romanian episode as the “most aggressive” step in what it calls a “decade-long campaign” by Brussels to censor political speech. It alleges similar pressure tactics were applied ahead of national elections in Slovakia, the Netherlands, France, Moldova, and Ireland, as well as the 2024 EU elections, consistently targeting conservative and populist voices.
With the US report generating limited mainstream attention, the committee warns the EU’s censorship apparatus remains active, potentially influencing upcoming votes, such as Hungary’s election in April 2025. The findings position the DSA not just as a content moderation tool, but as a mechanism with significant implications for sovereignty and democratic processes within the bloc.
