(Adnkronos) – Officials from the European Commission and Germany’s Coordinator for Digital Services will meet today with representatives from Microsoft, LinkedIn, TikTok, Snap, Meta and X to discuss the preparatory measures they intend to adopt for the German elections, scheduled for February 23. This was announced by the EU executive’s spokesperson for digital affairs during the daily press briefing in Brussels.
The aim of the meeting will be to investigate the potential scenarios in which the Digital Services Act measures, which aim to protect the integrity of the electoral process on online platforms, would apply, the spokesperson explained. It will also serve to ensure that platforms are “reacting proactively” to these scenarios. A “stress test” is also scheduled for February 1 to test the responsiveness of platforms.
The process, which took place previously on the occasion of the European elections in June 2024, comes at a time when the attention of the twenty-seven Member States is focusing on possible interference and electoral manipulation conducted through digital platforms. In December, the Romanian Supreme Court overturned the outcome of the first round of presidential elections, citing evidence of a coordinated campaign via TikTok, and in January several German politicians criticized the interview with the co-leader of the far-right AfD party, Alice Weidel, conducted by the owner of X Elon Musk on the platform itself.
