Evaluating the Implementation of the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation in Romania
Published Monday 29 January 2024 at 12:39
The VLOPs operating in Romania have voluntarily agreed to follow the guidelines formulated by the Code of Practice, however, they haven't always taken these measures seriously in their compliance reports. Furthermore, since there are no specific legal penalties for non-compliance, the VLOPs are still slow in (or sometimes even reluctant to) making the best efforts to ensure a responsible and trustworthy digital environment in Romania.
In Romania, the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) was recently designated as the Digital Services Coordinator, responsible for overseeing and ensuring compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA). ANCOM has also become part of the European Board for Digital Services, collaborating with other national coordinators, conducting joint investigations, issuing opinions and recommendations, and contributing to developing and implementing guidelines and reports related to the DSA.
Previous
The paper offers a perspective on the growing challenge of balancing disinformation
narratives and freedom of expression within European Union (EU) media policy. It
claims that within current approaches such a balance cannot be achieved and that a
serious look at the drivers of media consumption trends and EU media policies on
disinformation is required. Within the current frame of reference there is a need to
carefully consider what we mean by freedom of expression. This paper argues that one
aspect to consider is how current EU media policy, online media consumption and
monetisation models create a space where attention-grabbing and emotionally charged
content is favoured. This viewpoint might shed light on how these trends may potentially
be overshadowing important but less attention-grabbing voices or perspectives. The
article contends that one possible approach would be policies which encourage
prioritising and investing in not-for-profit and participatory media systems built on
community ownership and grassroots input.
Key words: disinformation, freedom of expression, EU, media policy [+]
