Following intervention by the National Audiovisual Council (CNA), TikTok removed posts promoting false claims about a so-called “black ambulance” allegedly abducting children.
The CNA said on Thursday that the platform deleted ninety videos and posts that spread unfounded rumours about organ traffickers and kidnappers. The regulator had asked TikTok on Tuesday to take down unlawful content; by Wednesday the company had removed all posts tagged with related hashtags.
The move was prompted by an incident on August 8 in Récekeresztúr in Cluj (Kolozs) county. Residents blocked the path of an ambulance with two cars and then attacked the vehicle with stones, sticks and axes. The ambulance driver managed to turn the vehicle around and escape, avoiding a lynching, but the windshield was smashed and a shard of glass lacerated the driver’s cornea, requiring surgical treatment.
Police said on Monday that seven people, aged between 18 and 44, were detained on suspicion of public disorder and violent offences. The Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs subsequently confirmed that some of the clips used to stoke panic had been manipulated or produced with artificial intelligence.
Alongside its enforcement action, the CNA urged users to verify information before sharing and to rely only on credible sources. The regulator described its decisive step as necessary to prevent physical harm and public panic resulting from false content spreading on social media.
Why this matters
The episode highlights how quickly false information — including AI-manipulated or AI-generated footage — can inflame local tensions and trigger real-world violence. Cooperation between authorities and platforms is presented as a key measure to curb the spread of dangerous disinformation.
(This article was prepared with the assistance of an AI tool; a journalist edited and verified the final content.)
