Romanian presidential candidate says TikTok should be temporarily shut down before elections
<p>Elena Lasconi, presidential candidate and leader of the reformist Save Romania&nbsp;Union (USR) opposition party, said that “it would be very good” for the authorities to shut down TikTok before the presidential elections in May.</p>
<p>Lasconi made the statements during a visit to Slatina, in southern Romania. She added that the popular Chinese social platform would be closed down only for a limited time to prevent outside influence.</p>
<p>"If they are not able to assure us of this, I believe it would be very good to shut it down at least a week or two before the presidential elections and then reopen it,” Lasconi told journalists.</p>
<p>The candidate, who placed second in the <a href="https://www.romania-insider.com/ccr-annuls-presidential-elections-romania-december-2024">cancelled presidential elections of 2024</a>, narrowly beating the Social Democratic prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, said that “incompetence” has brought Romania to a point where it should shut down TikTok.</p>
<p>“I support freedom of expression and democracy, but as long as there is a risk of state and non-state influence, as we have been informed, I believe we could make such a decision," said Elena Lasconi in a press conference, cited by <a href="https://www.agerpres.ro/politic/2025/03/23/prezidentiale2025-lasconi-referitor-la-tik-tok-ar-fi-foarte-bine-sa-l-inchida-macar-inainte-cu-o-saptamana-inainte-de-prezidentiale--1449518">Agerpres</a>.</p>
<p>Lasconi also said that fake news freely proliferates on TikTok and that the nine state institutions charged with securing the online environment are failing at their task.</p>
<p>“We have concrete proposals, including a legislative project submitted to Parliament, stating that fake news should be taken down within a maximum of 15 minutes, and a potentially manipulative message should not be allowed to be distributed to more than 150 people. There is a bill, but I see that it is still sitting in a drawer," she stated.</p>
<p>Other political leaders in Romania have repeatedly rejected banning the popular social media platform, which has amassed around 9 million users in Romania, roughly 47% of the population. Experts say Romania is especially vulnerable to fake news, as it has the lowest digital literacy skills in the EU, at around 1 in 2, compared to the Union average of 71%.</p>
<p><em><a href="mailto:radu@romania-insider.com">radu@romania-insider.com</a></em></p>
<p><em>(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Adriana Neagoe)&nbsp;</em></p>