24.03.2025

The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), as the national digital services coordinator (DSC) in Romania, provides clarifications regarding the mechanisms for accessing data of providers of Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOPSEs) under Article 40 of the DSA.

Given the interest expressed by civil society and academia regarding the mechanisms for access to VLOPSEs data – including through an open letter submitted to ANCOM -  the Authority has published an information material, available here.

This material details the conditions that the interested parties (affiliated researchers to non-profit bodies, organizations and associations) must cumulatively meet to request access to data of these providers under Article 40 of DSA. These conditions include not using data for commercial purposes, complying with security and confidentiality requirements, using the obtained data only for specific research activities, etc.

In this context, Authority details the national DSC’s role, as well as the steps involved in requesting such data, indicating, where applicable, the deadlines that VLOPSEs must respect during the process of making the data available, as well as the roles of the DSC and of the European Commission in the precise application of Article 40 of the DSA.

Further relevant information regarding the application of the DSA in Romania is available here. This page explains the provisions of the DSA, ANCOM`s role as DSC, the obligations of intermediary service providers etc. Users and other interested entities can also find here comprehensive information on how to contact the intermediary service providers, the steps for reporting illegal content, content restrictions, as well as user`s rights.