ANCOM: Very large online platforms must mitigate systemic risks on electoral processes

  Providers of online platforms and very large online search engines are under an obligation to assess and mitigate identified systemic risks, such as the dissemination of illegal content, the negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights and on civic discourse or electoral processes, according to Romania's National Communications Administration and Regulation Authority (ANCOM)."This obligation derives from the scale of their services (over 45 million monthly active users in the European Union). Systemic risks are the dissemination of illegal content, negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, negative effects on civic discourse, electoral processes and public safety, negative effects on gender-based violence, protection of public health and minors, and serious negative consequences on the physical and mental well-being of the individuals. The measures to mitigate the systemic risks identified must be reasonable, proportionate and effective, and providers of very large online platforms or very large online search engines must pay particular attention to the impact of those measures on fundamental rights," ANCOM reported on Thursday.According to the regulator of the local telecommunications market, in order to comply with the obligations provided by the Digital Services Regulation, the European Commission has published Guidelines for providers of very large online platforms and very large online search engines on mitigating systemic risks for electoral processes.Thus, it is recommended to adopt risk mitigation measures, during and after the elections, such as strengthening internal processes, including by setting up internal teams with adequate resources, to analyse the available information on the risks specific to the local context and how their services are used to seek and obtain information beforehand, during and after elections.Also, the implementation of election-specific measures, including: promoting official information on electoral processes, media literacy initiatives and adapting recommendation algorithms to empower users and reduce the monetisation of content that threatens the integrity of electoral processes, as well as its viralisation. In addition, political advertising must be clearly labelled in the light of the new regulation on transparency and targeting in political advertising.Another recommended measure refers to mitigating the risks of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), by clearly labelling the content generated by the new technology, by adjusting the terms and conditions of use and by ensuring their application."Cooperation with authorities, independent experts and civil society, at national and European level, to facilitate the effective exchange of information and the application of appropriate risk mitigation measures, including in the field of foreign information manipulation and foreign interference, disinformation and cybersecurity. Adopt specific risk mitigation measures, including an incident response mechanism, during the election period to limit the impact of events that could significantly influence the outcome of elections or voter turnout. Assessing the effectiveness of risk mitigation measures through post-election reviews. Very large online platforms and very large online search engines should publish a non-confidential version of these ratings to allow public feedback on the measures taken," are other recommendations for online platforms and very large online search engines.The European Commission has exclusive competence to supervise and ensure compliance by providers of very large online platforms and very large online search engines with the obligations set out in Articles 34 and 35 (risk assessment and mitigation) of the Digital Services Regulation. In this regard, for the development of the guidelines, the European forum cooperated with the digital services coordinators within the European Digital Services Committee.In Romania, ANCOM is the digital service coordinator. Its role is to supervise intermediary service providers established in Romania and to ensure compliance with the Digital Services Regulation. In case of non-compliance by intermediary service providers established in Romania with the provisions of the Digital Services Regulation, sanctions may be applied, including significant fines.