Executive Summary
Over the past year, DRI has monitored the rise of inauthentic political activity on TikTok during key electoral moments across Europe, identifying accounts that support parties and candidates to artificially boost their visibility and engagement, often in violation of the platform’s own rules. This research has uncovered the presence of murky accounts across multiple EU contexts, including the 2024 European Parliament elections and national contests in Germany, Poland, and Romania. Building on these findings, and recognising the global relevance and popularity of TikTok, we turned our attention to the 2025 local government elections in Sri Lanka, a context in which the platform plays a growing role in shaping political discourse, especially among younger voters.
