(Source: Reuters)

The European Union has ordered social media company TikTok to freeze data related to Romania’s elections, it announced in a statement on Thursday.

EU officials issued a “retention order” under the bloc’s sweeping digital services law, which regulates how the world’s biggest social media companies operate in Europe.

This decision comes on the same day that the United States expressed concerns about possible foreign interference in the Romanian elections, following the victory of pro-Russian ultranationalist Calin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential election on November 24.

Far-right parties also performed well in Romania’s parliamentary elections last Sunday, although the ruling left-wing Social Democrats have emerged as the largest party and hope to form a pro-EU coalition government.

Documents declassified Wednesday by Romanian security officials show that Georgescu was heavily promoted on the social media platform TikTok through coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms and paid promotions. Georgescu himself said that there was no money spent on the campaign.

The documents suggested that Romania had been the target of “aggressive Russian hybrid attacks”. Russia has denied any interference in Romania’s election campaigns.

If Georgescu claims victory in Sunday’s runoff, he will likely try to isolate Romania abroad and reverse his pro-EU approach, analysts and diplomats said.