EU targets TikTok over pro-Polexit campaign in Poland

Brussels – Artificial intelligence products with Eurosceptic content and messaging: ‘Polexit’ is spreading on TikTok, and the European Union is preparing to crack down on the platform. The spread of anti-European narratives, with the consequent call to support Poland’s exit from the European Union, is so widespread that EPP MEP Krzysztof Brejza has been forced to raise the issue with the European Commission to request appropriate action.

 “The characteristics of this content, including its volume, coordinated distribution patterns, and the use of synthetic voices and personas, suggest the possibility of an organised disinformation campaign,” Brejza denounces in the parliamentary question addressed to the EU executive. “According to Polish authorities, such activity poses a tangible risk to public order, information security, and the integrity of democratic debate, not only in Poland, but across the EU,” he added.

 The European Commission already has ongoing disputes with TikTok over alleged violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), and could open a new case against the Chinese platform. “The Commission is aware of the dissemination of AI-generated content on TikTok advocating for Poland to leave the EU,” Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, clarified. Within the framework of the Digital Services Act, she said, “it has engaged in exchanges with the provider of TikTok and third parties regarding the concerned account(s).”

 European investigations into TikTok are already underway, with Brussels engaged in the amicable phase of the procedure. “The investigations in these proceedings are ongoing, and the Commission continues to gather and analyse evidence,” Virkkunen continues, suggesting that Brussels could also decide to take a hard line, i.e., impose fines. For TikTok, moreover, the precedent of the 2024 Romanian presidential elections also weighs heavily, in which the vote is believed to have been influenced by the campaign carried out on the social media platform in support of the pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu.