12 EU Member States, including Belgium, have urged the European Commission to use its Digital Services Act (DSA) to protect upcoming European elections from foreign interference.
"Recent incidents necessitate urgent and united action to defend the coming elections in EU Member States and candidate countries," wrote the ministers and secretaries of state for European Affairs in a letter to commissioners Henna Virkkunen (digital sovereignty) and Michael McGrath (democracy), obtained by Belga.
Recently, X magnate Elon Musk, a close associate of US President Donald Trump, publicly expressed support for the far-right German party AfD ahead of the country's upcoming elections on 23 February.
The Commission is investigating whether Musk is misusing X to promote the far-right party. In Romania, the Constitutional Court had to annul the first round of the presidential election in December, suspecting a Russian influence operation on TikTok had skewed the results.
Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Cyprus, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Greece, Slovenia and Romania are among the signatories of the letter.
"Growing threats of foreign interference and disruptive interventions in public debates during crucial electoral events pose a direct threat to our stability and sovereignty," wrote the 12 ministers, including Bernard Quintin of Belgium.
The European Commission has recently faced criticism for its alleged slowness in investigating major online platforms, such as X and TikTok.
The Commission argues that these investigations require extensive and precise legal work to withstand legal challenges.