For the attention of EEAS (European External Action Service)

This transparency request is addressed to you in application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. I want to use the English language.

For the record, FIMI means "Information Integrity and Countering Foreign Information Manipulation & Interference"

As we can read on the EEAS website, your agency “has significantly strengthened its capabilities to identify, analyze and respond to FIMI since 2015, when EU Member States first asked EEAS to tackle Russian disinformation campaigns in the context of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.”

The EEAS's aim is to “provide more targeted, impactful and coordinated responses to FIMI in order to protect the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, democratic processes and citizens, as well as our partners around the world.”

So you have the tools and you are in charge of protecting the democratic processes accros the EU countries.

According to the Electoral Commission of Malta website, Mrs Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, took part in an election with 260258 voters. Mrs. Metzola's Tik Tok account is verified and has 12,100 followers with 107700 likes. Ms. Metsola won a seat as a Member of the European Parliament in the last elections, enabling her to renew her mandate as President. Her candidacy benefited from visibility granted by TikTok's algorithms. Mrs Metzola's likes on TikTok represent almost 20% of the population of Malta and 40% of voters.

For its part, the PPE political group obtained a very high score at the last elections. The group's official account has 67200 followers and 927700 likes. TikTok's algorithms have therefore enabled the PPE to gain significant visibility.

In view of the foregoing, I hereby request that you send me a copy of :

1. all documents relating to the investigations carried out by your services of the regularity of the European elections. In particular, those relating to the examination carried out by EEAS of foreign intelligence (or foreign entities) having used TikTok to interfere in the elections of EPP members including Mrs Roberta Metsola.

2. The same kind of document related to the last election of French President Emmanuel Macron (whose TikTok account is followed by 5,300,000 followers and has 47,200,000 likes). A useful reminder that the French President sits on the Council and His candidacy benefited from visibility granted by TikTok's algorithms.

3. Same for the Romanian elections (the one canceled and the current).
 The favorite candidate of the last canceled election (Călin Georgescu) has almost 8 times fewer followers and 10 times fewer likes on TikTok than the French President, even though France has only 3.6 times as many citizens as Romania. The ratio of her likes on TikTok to the population doesn't seem any different from Roberta Metsola's.

4. All correspondence issued or received by EEAS advising or requesting the EPP Group, Mrs Metsola, President Macron and Călin Georgescu to shut their TikTok accounts down.

5. Any report or study showing TikTok's direct contribution to votes for MEPs and candidates to heads of state (notably showing that the views on TikTok directly impact the voters' choices)

My interest is as follows: I want to be able to make sure that the regularity of European elections is guaranteed and that they receive a proper attention from your service. I would like to use these public documents to write a book and publish researches.

If certain information is subject to an exception, please let me know and respect the principle of partial transmission. If a document does not exist, please let me know. In the event of a contradiction between a regulation and a fundamental right, please respect the hierarchy of norms.

Frederic BALDAN
Avenue des arts 56, 1000 Brussels

Yours faithfully,

Frédéric BALDAN

References:
[1] https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/informat...
[2] https://www.tiktok.com/@metsola.roberta
[3] https://www.tiktok.com/@eppgroup
[4] https://www.tiktok.com/@emmanuelmacron
[5] https://electoral.gov.mt/ElectionResults...