The relevant authorities - i.e. public institutions and authorities with attributions regarding the supervision of a sector or field of activity - have the competence to rule on illegal content in online environment, and, if necessary, to issue orders (administrative acts) to act against it, according to Article 7-8 of Law no.50/2024.

Concerning the enforcement of an order, the authority issuing it shall transmit a copy to ANCOM within 10 working days from receiving the last information from the provider of intermediary services concerned, along with any information received from that provider regarding the effect given to that order. This task is also provided in Article 9(3) of the Digital Services Act.

Despite certain information circulated in the public space, ANCOM, as the Digital Services Coordinator in Romania (DSC), cannot take over attributions of another relevant authority and does not have the competence to verify an order issued by the latter. ANCOM does not constitute a verification filter in relation to the actions of another public institution; both Law no.50/2024 on establishing measures for the application of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a single market for digital services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act), as well as for amending and completing Law no. 365/2002 on electronic commerce and the Digital Services Act do not confer such powers to the Digital Services Coordinator in Romania. Furthermore, ANCOM does not have the role of verifying and removing opinions expressed online.

Since its appointment as a DSC, ANCOM has been working closely with all the relevant authorities, providing them all the necessary information to fulfil their attributions in the online environment. As the Digital Services Coordinator in Romania, ANCOM does not decide what qualifies as illegal content within the scope of activity of the relevant authorities and does not act as an appeal body against intermediary service providers’ decisions related to illegal content.

ANCOM only evaluates illegal content specifically in situations where it is legally designated as the relevant authority. According to the Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, ANCOM has the role of a relevant authority in the fields of placing radio equipment on the market and of electromagnetic compatibility.

ANCOM supports the freedom of expression and the proper information of public opinion, acting as a fair partner for dialogue with all interested parties, in compliance with the prerogatives conferred by the legislation in force. ANCOM, as a DSC, calls on all relevant authorities to make sustained efforts in the exercise of their duties with responsibility and commitment.

Illegal content

According to the DSA, "illegal content" refers to any information, which, in itself or by its reference to an activity, including the sale of products or provision of services, does not observe the Union law or the national law of any Member State which is in compliance with Union Law, irrespective of the precise subject matter or nature of that law.

Therefore, content is illegal when it violates one of the laws in force in Romania or any other EU member states. This includes racist and xenophobic incitement to violence and hatred, child abuse content, terrorist content, copyright infringement, dangerous and illegal content, etc.

Other courses of action against illegal content

For countering illegal content, the DSA provides several courses of action besides orders issued by the relevant authorities:

• Any natural person or entity can send a notification to the hosting service provider

Any natural person or entity can report to the hosting service providers the existence of certain information that he/she considers illegal, within the services offered by them. The providers have the obligation to establish notification submitting mechanisms. Those mechanisms must be accessible and user friendly and allow notifications to be submitted exclusively by electronic means.

In order to be processed, a notification sent to the hosting service provider must include: a sufficiently justified explanation of the reasons why the recipient claims that the information in question constitutes illegal content, an indication of the exact electronic location of that information (e.g. U.R.L. or, if necessary, additional information which allows the illegal content to be identified, adapted according to the type of content and the specific type of hosting service), name and address of the recipient making the notification, with certain exceptions, and a statement confirming that the notifier has sent, in good faith, a complete and accurate notification. 

• Trusted flaggers’ reporting to online platforms

A trusted flagger is any entity demonstrating that it has specific expertise and competence for detecting, identifying and notifying illegal content, that it is independent of any online platform provider and it conducts its activities in a way that enables it to submit notifications with diligence, accuracy and objectivity. ANCOM has established a procedure for granting, upon request, the status of trusted flagger to any entity that meets all the conditions mentioned above. In Romania, two trusted flaggers have been appointed: Save the Children and the Ellie Wiesel Institute.

According to the DSA, providers of online platforms that are not micro and small enterprises must take the necessary measures to ensure that notifications submitted by trusted flaggers on illegal content are prioritized.