Warning from Brussels: Romania must postpone the adoption of two laws on the protection of minors on the Internet / They propose new rules and fines for IT giants

The Ministry of Digitization on Monday warned the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body, that the adoption of the law on the digital majority and the law on the protection of minors against harmful content on the big online platforms (such as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube or X) impose additional rules and fines to the European ones and risk the opening of an infringement procedure. The Ministry says that it received a warning message in this regard from the European Commission on October 13.

A first bill claimed by the European Commission is PL-x no. 385/2025: Draft Law on the protection of minors under 18 against harmful content distributed on very large online platforms (VLOP).

• “Analyzing the project, we found that it contains technical regulations and establishes additional obligations VLOPs and VLOSEs in relation to Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on a single market for digital services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Regulation on digital services)”, claims the Ministry of Digitization in the address to the Chamber of Deputies.

How harmful content is defined and what fines are proposed

The bill requires major online platforms to implement an age-verifiable mechanism for all new and existing users, with the aim of restricting minors' access to “harmful content”.

According to the legislative initiative, harmful content means any material that:
a) incites violence or self-destructive behavior;
b) promotes eating disorders, self-hatred or suicidal ideation
c) contains nudity, pornography or sexual exploitation;
d) contains scenes of cruelty, aggression or extreme violence;
e) promotes illegal behavior, drug or alcohol use
f) affects the emotional and cognitive development of the minor

Major online platforms must respond within a maximum of 2 hours to any notification issued by a competent authority regarding harmful content accessed by a minor.

Platforms that violate the provisions of this law can be fined between 0.5% and 3% of their global annual turnover.

What are the problems with the online majority law?

The second bill which the European Commission drew attention to is PL-x no. 356/2025 – Law of online majority.

This draft law, which was already adopted last month by the Senate, provides that minors, until they reach the age of 16, access online services and create personal accounts, in their own name, only on the basis of verifiable parental consent.

• “Following the analysis of the project, we have identified the fact that it establishes additional obligations for intermediate service providers in relation to Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on a single market for digital services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Regulation on digital services)”, claims the Ministry of Digitization in the information to the Chamber of Deputies.

What does Romania risk if it adopts these two laws

The Ministry of Digitization emphasizes that “the two legislative proposals contain additional regulations compared to European legislation, an aspect that places them in the category of normative acts that must go through the notification procedure provided by Directive (EU) 2015/1535”.

• “We make it clear that the notification of the acts according to the provisions of the mentioned Directive is done in the project phase, and the initiating member state is obliged to postpone their adoption until the end of the status-quo period provided by the Directive.
• We mention that normative acts of this type, adopted without complying with the notification procedure provided for by the mentioned Directive, are inapplicable and become unopposable to third parties[orincaseoflitigationaccordingtothejurisprudenceoftheEuropeanCourtofJustice(egcaseLC194/94CIASecurity)beingabletoopentheinfringementprocedureforRomaniafornon-compliancewithEuropeanlegislation”theinformationsentbytheMinistrytoParliamentonMondayalsostates[orîncazdelitigiuconformjurisprudenţeiCurţiiEuropenedeJustiţie(excazuLC194/94CIASecurity)putânddeschideproceduradeinfringementRomânieipentrunerespectarealegislaţieieuropene”semaiaratăîninformareatrimisălunideMinisterînParlament

What criticisms has the digital majority law raised?

The draft law on online coming of age, adopted last month by the Senate, by which minors up to the age of 16 will not be able to access online services without parental consent, “introduces a general online identification obligation for any user: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn and any site with only the bulletin”, warned the Association for Technology and Internet (APTI) last month.

Criticism of the initial form of the project was also raised by Google Romania, CNA and especially ANCOM, the authority that will verify the application of the law, after it passes the Parliament.

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