Poland has asked the European Commission to investigate TikTok after the social media platform hosted content generated by artificial intelligence, including calls for Poland to withdraw from the EU, it said on Tuesday, adding that the content was almost certainly Russian disinformation.
A TikTok profile showing videos of young women dressed in the Polish national colors and calling for Poland to leave the EU has gained popularity in recent weeks. The profile has now disappeared from the platform, reports Telegraph.
"The disclosed content poses a threat to public order, information security and the integrity of democratic processes in Poland and across the European Union," said Deputy Minister of Digitalisation Dariusz Standerski in a letter to the Commission.
"The nature of the narratives, the way they are distributed and the use of synthetic audiovisual materials show that the platform is not fulfilling the obligations imposed on it as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP)," he added.
A Polish government spokesman said on Tuesday that the content was clearly Russian disinformation as the recordings contained Russian syntax.
"We have been in contact with Polish authorities and have removed content where it violates our rules," a TikTok spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed comment.
EU countries are taking steps to prevent any foreign state attempts to influence elections and local politics after warning of Russian-sponsored espionage and sabotage. Russia has consistently denied interfering in foreign elections.
Last year, the Commission opened formal proceedings against social media firm TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, over its alleged failure to limit electoral interference, notably in the Romanian presidential election in November 2024.
Poland called on the Commission to launch proceedings regarding alleged violations of the bloc's comprehensive Digital Services Act, which regulates how the world's largest social media companies operate in Europe.
Under the Act, major internet platforms such as X, Facebook, TikTok and others must moderate and remove harmful content such as hate speech, racism or xenophobia. If they fail to do so, the Commission can impose fines of up to 6% of their annual worldwide turnover. /Telegraph/
