The European Union has stepped up surveillance of TikTok amid allegations of Russian interference in Romanian elections

The European Commission has stepped up monitoring of the activities of social media platform TikTok in Romanian elections in case of Russian interference.

In a statement issued Thursday, the European Commission asked TikTok to freeze and store data that could pose a real or foreseeable risk to EU electoral processes and public discourse, and also asked the platform to retain information on how to deal with the risk of "deliberate manipulation." But the commission did not comment on TikTok's possible violations.

In response, TikTok said: "We have been cooperating with the committee and will continue to do so. In light of some speculation and inaccurate reports, we want to set the record straight."

In the first round of Romania's presidential election on November 24, the far-right candidate Calin Georgescu surprised the country by taking the lead with nearly 23% of the vote.

The Romanian government later accused Russia of meddling in the election and said there was Russian interference and "preferential treatment" for Georgescu on TikTok, but TikTok denied the allegations.

Georgescu, a former senior civil servant, has attracted attention on TikTok and other social media for his cryptic, nationalist comments, which have been viewed millions of times.

However, there are fears that the rise of the Pro-Russian Georgescu will bring the country, which has become more strategically important since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, into the bloc's far-right camp, weakening European unity against Russia.

Romania will hold a presidential runoff election on Sunday, with Georgescu facing center-right candidate Elena Lasconi for the top job.