The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), in its capacity as Digital Services Coordinator, continued in Cluj-Napoca the national information and awareness campaign dedicated to the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in Romania.
Over the course of two days, representatives of ANCOM, the European Commission and Save the Children Romania met with hundreds of pupils, parents, teachers, students and researchers to discuss topics related to the protection of minors online, mechanisms for reporting illegal or harmful online content, and researchers’ access to data from very large online platforms.
The discussions held with students, professors and researchers from the Babeș-Bolyai University and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca focused on the mechanism established under the Digital Services Act for access by vetted researchers to data held by very large online platforms and very large online search engines (VLOPSEs). This mechanism is important for research projects that contribute to identifying and mitigating systemic risks in the online environment at European Union level. More information on this topic is available here.
The safety of children and young people in the digital environment was the central topic of the meeting with students, teachers, representatives of parents’ associations and the Cluj County School Inspectorate.
On this occasion, ANCOM representatives stressed that, under the Digital Services Act, online platforms accessible to minors are required to implement appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for children, while giving priority to the best interests of the child. ANCOM also underlined that protecting minors online requires a coordinated effort involving authorities, online platforms, parents and the educational sector.
To support users, ANCOM has developed guidelines on reporting illegal or harmful online content, available here.
At the same time, the institution presented the Online Safety Barometer in Romania, an anonymous questionnaire through which users can evaluate their experiences in the digital environment, including interactions involving:
- hate speech,
- fraud,
- content that is harmful to minors.
The questionnaire can be completed anonymously here by any interested person.
During the meeting, the Save the Children Romania Study on children’s safety in the online environment was also presented. According to the study, 60% of surveyed children witnessed cyberbullying, 68% encountered inappropriate or frightening content, and nearly half reported having been contacted online by strangers. The study also indicates that dangerous online challenges are visible to 60% of children, with some respondents stating that they actively participate in such risky trends. More details about the study are available here.
The European Commission’s DSA representative in Romania highlighted the Commission’s central role in supervising very large online platforms and very large online search engines, in accordance with the provisions of the Digital Services Act.
Through this campaign, ANCOM aims to:
- raise awareness regarding the protection of minors online;
- improve the understanding of mechanisms for reporting illegal content;
- inform academia about opportunities to access platform data.
The events in Cluj-Napoca were organized with the support of the Cluj County School Inspectorate, the Babeș-Bolyai University and the Cluj County Council.
The campaign will continue in other university centres across the country, including Iasi and Bucharest. Photo gallery available here.