Evaluating the Implementation of the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation in Romania

Last modified by Admin on 2026/05/27 16:20

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.

The report.

Madalina Botan

Andreea Stancea

Co -Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DIGITAL-2021-TRUST-01. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

This comprehensive observational snapshot examines the digital information environment surrounding anti-euro protests in Bulgaria during the week September 7-13, 2025, utilizing real-time social media data collection, search analytics, Google platform monitoring, and contemporaneous source supplementation. The study documents mobilization patterns, narrative frameworks, cross-platform coordination, and public engagement metrics during a specific 168-hour observation window preceding and during scheduled demonstrations across multiple Bulgarian cities. [+]

In June of 2022, Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Twitter (rebranded as X) and a selection of advertising industry companies all signed up to the strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation (European Commission, 2022). One of the goals of this strengthened version of the code was to empower the industry to adhere to self-regulatory standards in order to combat disinformation. The strengthened code also claims to set a more ambitious set of commitments and measures aimed at combating disinformation online.

Our aim here is to offer an assessment or evaluation of the implementation of the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation (CoP) by these companies in Bulgaria. Very little information exists on the implementation of the strengthened Code of Practice when it comes to Bulgaria by Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOP and VLOSE) and this is a country which is particularly vulnerable to disinformation narratives. [+]

Evaluating the Implementation of the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation in Romania

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