Internet & Online Safety · Romania
Online safety in Romania: the EU Digital Services Act (2026)
Romania shaded by its internet & online safety status
Online safety rules in Romania: comprehensive law, under EU Digital Services Act (Regulation 2022/2065) directly applicable since 17 February 2024; national implementation via Romania Law No. 50/2024 (Official Journal No. 232, 19 March 2024); Digital Services Coordinator: ANCOM (National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications).
Romania gives effect to the EU Digital Services Act through Law No. 50/2024, which entered into force on 22 March 2024 and designates ANCOM as the national Digital Services Coordinator with full supervisory and enforcement powers over intermediary service providers. Beyond the DSA baseline, Romania has legislated or is actively proposing additional national measures: a 'Digital Age of Majority Law' approved by the Senate in October 2025 (pending final adoption by the Chamber of Deputies) that mandates age verification and parental consent for users under 16, and a separate draft law that would impose stricter obligations on VLOPs than the DSA requires, including a 15-minute illegal-content removal window.
The Digital Services Act in Romania
In Romania, online platforms and intermediaries are governed by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), a directly-applicable regulation covering illegal content, transparency and user protection.
- Framework
- the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065)
- Approach
- notice-and-action on illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms, and protection of minors
- Applies to
- online intermediaries, hosting services and platforms offering services to users in Romania, wherever established
- Very large platforms
- platforms and search engines with 45M+ EU users face extra systemic-risk audits, overseen by the European Commission
- Maximum fine
- up to 6% of global annual turnover
- Oversight
- the national Digital Services Coordinator, plus the European Commission for very large platforms
The DSA is an EU regulation applied directly in Romania; the national Digital Services Coordinator handles day-to-day supervision.
The Digital Services Act in Romania: FAQ
Yes. As an EU member, Romania is covered by the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), which applies directly.
Notice-and-action mechanisms for illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms of service, and measures to protect minors.
The national Digital Services Coordinator, with the European Commission supervising very large online platforms and search engines.
Up to 6% of a provider's global annual turnover for serious breaches.
Key points
EU Regulation 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) applies directly in Romania to all categories of intermediary services as of 17 February 2024, imposing notice-and-action mechanisms, transparency reporting, and systemic-risk assessments for very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs).
Published in the Official Journal on 19 March 2024 and in force from 22 March 2024, Law 50/2024 designates ANCOM as the sole Digital Services Coordinator, establishes a provider-registration obligation (45-day notification to ANCOM), introduces a national sanctioning regime for DSA non-compliance, and authorises a supervisory fee on Romanian-established intermediary services providers from 1 January 2027.
ANCOM holds exclusive national competence to supervise and enforce the DSA for intermediary services established in Romania, acts as single point of contact to the European Commission and peer DSCs, and sits on the European Digital Services Board. ANCOM published its first DSA Annual Report covering 2024 activities.
Romania's Senate approved the 'Legea Majoratului Online' (L190/2025) on 6 October 2025; it now awaits final vote by the Chamber of Deputies. The law sets 'digital majority' at 16, requires verifiable parental consent for under-16s to access most online services, mandates age-appropriate design and content labelling, bans profiling-based advertising to minors, and authorises ANCOM to impose fines of 0.1-0.4% of annual turnover and, after five infringements, to suspend a provider's operations in Romania.
A separate draft law proposed in early 2025 targets VLOPs and would go beyond the DSA by requiring removal of illegal content within 15 minutes of publication, capping the spread of 'potentially harmful content' to 150 users, and imposing a 1% turnover fine where state-validated user reports exceed 30% of flagged content on a given platform. As of May 2026 this bill remains a legislative proposal.
Civil-society analysis by Expert Forum (2024) identified systemic gaps in Romania's early DSA enforcement, including limited investigative capacity at ANCOM and slow follow-through on systemic-risk oversight of VLOPs. These concerns have informed the subsequent push for stricter national supplementary legislation.
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