Polish lawmaker accuses TikTok of promoting right-wing election campaign
A Polish lawmaker has accused TikTok's algorithm of skewing the 2025 presidential election campaign by displaying over five times more content supporting the right-wing nationalist candidate than the centrist opponent, based on research by Global Witness. The lawmaker has filed a complaint with Poland's security agency requesting investigation into alleged Chinese or Russian manipulation of the election.
What happened
Global Witness, an international human rights organization, conducted a study on TikTok by creating new accounts for fictional users and examining what content was recommended to them. The study found that TikTok displayed over five times more content supporting right-wing nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki than centrist candidate Rafał Trzaskowski during Poland's 2025 presidential election.
On June 5, 2025, Polish lawmaker Roman Giertych announced he would file a complaint with Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW) over the findings. Giertych stated that TikTok showed two times more content of an extremely right-wing and nationalist character than centrist and left-wing content to new, politically neutral users.
Reported impact
Giertych suggested the algorithm's behavior indicated that China, or China acting on Russia's behalf, was manipulating Poland's election campaign. He noted a similar pattern had occurred in Romania's 2024 presidential election.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.