Regulator adopts European digital services law but the details on applying it are still under consultation
Romanian regulator, the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has gazetted a new national digital services law – which applies EU regulations on digital services – that will come into force three days after publication.
The new law establishes the national measures necessary for the application of the digital; services regulation, designates the coordinator of digital services (ANCOM) and adopts the sanctioning regime applicable in case of non-compliance with the obligations established by the regulation on digital services or by law.
At the same time, the law also creates a mechanism through which public authorities or institutions that have “competences in certain sectors or fields of activity” can issue orders for the removal of certain content considered illegal under national rules.
Telco or “intermediary” service providers
The first part of the law covers off “intermediary service providers.” This basically includes transmission services like internet exchange points, wireless access points, virtual private networks, DNS services, first-level domain name registries, registrars for domains, the certification authorities that issue digital certificates, VoIP telephony and other interpersonal communication services.
It also includes caching services like CDNs, reverse proxies or content adaptation proxies and hosting services such as cloud services or web hosting, plus paid referral services or services that allow the sharing of information and content online, including file storage and sharing.
According to the law, intermediate service providers who have their main place of establishment or residence in Romania or their legal representative is established in Romania have the obligation to send ANCOM, within no more than 45 days from the date of starting to offer services, information which will include the identification data of the supplier and its contact data in order to communicate effectively with public authorities, announcing any changes as well.
ANCOM’s obligation to inform also applies to suppliers who offer intermediate services on the date of entry into force of the law, the 45-day term being calculated from this moment. The form, content and conditions under which the information will be provided are included in the draft decision on the information procedure for intermediate service providers, which are currently under public consultation.
The regulation on digital services establishes, for each category of intermediary service providers, the conditions under which the intermediary service provider is exempted from liability in relation to the information provided by the recipients of the service.
Illegal content to be blocked
Hosting service providers (including online platform providers) must implement notification and action mechanisms to allow any individual or entity to notify the presence of alleged illegal content within the service they offer. If such notifications enable a hosting service provider to identify the illegal nature of the relevant activity or information without a detailed legal examination, then, from the moment it becomes aware of these matters, the hosting service provider must act promptly to remove illegal content or to block access to it.
In addition, online platform providers must provide service recipients with internal complaint resolution systems regarding the decisions they make in relation to notifications of alleged illegal content. Following the receipt of the order to act against the illegal content, an intermediate service provider is obliged to inform the issuing authority about the way in which it complied with the order, and the issuing authority is obliged to send ANCOM a copy of the order, together with the supplier’s response on how it complied with that order.
“Illegal content” means any information which – in itself or in relation to an activity, including the sale of products or the provision of services – does not comply with European Union law or with the law of any Member State which is in conformity with Union law, irrespective of the precise subject matter or nature of that law.