27.03.2025

Today, 27 March 2025, the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), as Digital Services Coordinator in Romania, organized a tabletop exercise aimed at testing the response capacity to the challenges that may arise during the presidential elections scheduled for May 2025, in the context of applying the Digital Services Act (DSA). The event brought together representatives of national authorities, the European Commission, major online platforms and civil society.

During the exercise, several mock scenarios were simulated to assess whether the existing tools, processes and the cooperation and reporting mechanisms between representatives of national authorities, representatives of European Commission, very large online platforms and civil society are sufficient to address potential challenges, as well as to identify areas that can be improved.

Participants included representatives of the European Commission, the Permanent Electoral Authority, Central Electoral Bureau, the National Audiovisual Council, the National Directorate of Cyber Security, structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, representatives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Council for Combating Discrimination, representatives of Coimisiun na Mean (Digital Services Coordinator in Ireland), of the major online platforms (i.e. TikTok, Google, Meta and X) and representatives of civil society (respectively the National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania "Elie Wiesel", Expert Forum, Funky Citizens, ActiveWatch, the Association for Technology and Internet and SNSPA).

The exercise took into account the European Commission guidelines  for providers of very large online platforms (VLOP) and very large online search engines (VLOSES) on the mitigation of systemic risks for electoral processes, given the risk of real or foreseeable negative effects on electoral processes that such services may pose due to their design, operation and use. Very large online platforms and very large online search engines are under the direct supervision of the European Commission.

Teams worked on three hypothetical scenarios stimulating possible violations of the national laws, as well as other operation terms and conditions of the relevant large online platforms. The exercise tested the procedures and mechanisms for reporting to the platforms and facilitated a relevant exchange of information among participants. Since identifying optimal solutions in a short time is a fundamental element for the smooth unfolding of the electoral process, ANCOM will continue to collaborate with national authorities to ensure that they act within their respective areas of responsibility, including addressing online incidents.

ANCOM as Digital Services Coordinator (DSC)

The role of the Authority is to ensure compliance with the DSA and to develop secondary legislation. ANCOM monitors the compliance of online platforms based in Romania with the obligations under the DSA and collaborates with other relevant authorities at national level to implement necessary measures for addressing illegal content within their respective fields of activity. It also coordinates activities at national level and provides reports to the European Commission, contributing to the exchange of information and best practices within the European Network of DSCs.

Important!

ANCOM cannot rule on the legality or illegality of published content that does not fall within its domain of competence. Public authorities or institutions with responsibilities regarding the supervision of a particular sector or field of activity, referred to as relevant authorities, can issue orders against illegal content or orders to provide information, in accordance with Articles 7- 9 of Law no. 50/2024, and with Articles 9 and 10 of the DSA. 

Orders may also be issued by judicial authorities in the context of actions, activities or procedures carried out by them according to their respective legal powers.

Briefly, the authorities that have competences in a certain field in the offline environment, have the same competences in the online environment. So, authorities can take action against illegal content online based on their domain of competence.