10.02.2026

ANCOM has participated in the in the event organised on the occasion of Safer Internet Day, alongside its partner Save the Children Romania, as part of the 18th consecutive edition of this initiative at national level.

This year’s edition focused on combating illegal and harmful activities in the online environment and included the launch of a study conducted by Save the Children Romania, highlighting some harmful behaviors of young people on the internet and the impact of such behaviour on their safety. The event brought together representatives of Save the Children, public authorities, law enforcement bodies and child protection specialists, who emphasized the importance of inter-institutional cooperation in identifying digital risks and promoting a safer and more transparent online environment.

During the discussions, ANCOM, in its capacity as Romania’s Digital Services Coordinator (DSC), underlined the importance of a coherent European regulatory framework for creating a safer online environment for children and adolescents, highlighting the essential role of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in preventing digital risks and strengthening the protection of minors.

DSA - Measures to protect children and young people online

The main provisions of the Digital Services Act, relevant to the protection of minors online, aim at enhancing the responsibility of digital platforms and reducing children's exposure to harmful content.

To support platforms, the European Commission has published the Guidelines on the protection of minors online, which provide a non-exhaustive list of proportionate and appropriate measures to protect minors from online risks. Key recommendations include:

• Setting minors' accounts as private by default so that their personal information, data, and content are not visible to unknown users to reduce the risk of unsolicited contact.
• Adjusting platforms' recommendation systems to limit minors' exposure to harmful content or to so-called 'rabbit holes', while giving young users greater control over their content feeds.
• Enabling minors to block or disable notifications for any user,  and preventing them from being added to groups without explicit consent, as measures to reduce the risk of cyberbullying.
• Prohibiting the downloading or screenshoting of content posted by minors, in order to prevent unauthorized distribution of intimate or sexual materials and sexual extortion.
• Disabling by default features that encourage excessive use, such as streaks, ephemeral content, read receipts, autoplay, or push notifications, as well as eliminating persuasive design practices aimed solely at maximizing engagement, and including safeguards related to AI-powered chatbots.
• Preventing the exploitation of minors’ limited commercial literacy, so that they are not exposed to manipulative practices, unwanted expenses, and addictive behaviors, including those linked to virtual currencies or “loot boxes.”
• Introduce measures to content moderation and reporting mechanisms, including timely feedback and minimum requirements for parental control tools.
• Age verification in the case of those online platforms posting information regarding certain products or services that pose a high risk to minors (e.g., alcohol, tobacco or nicotine products, pornographic content, or gambling-related content).

ANCOM – Digital Services Coordinator in Romania (DSC)

As Romania’s DSC, ANCOM is responsible for supervising the application of the Digital Services Act, cooperating with European authorities, and contributing to the protection of users, including minors, in the online environment.

ANCOM works closely with civil society organizations, public institutions, and digital platforms to support the effective implementation of the DSA in Romania and to develop information and education initiatives aimed at increasing the level of online safety for minors. Creating a safer digital space is a strategic priority, and the protection of children in the online environment remains a core objective of ANCOM’s activity as Digital Services Coordinator.