Several non-governmental organizations have warned, regarding the emergency ordinance adopted by the Government on Thursday, which established the presidential election calendar and rules regarding the electoral campaign, that under provisions introduced by the Executive without a public debate. Under the new amendments, social media platforms must take down content which does not follow the rules within five hours of a request from Romanian election officials or risk fines of between 1% and 5% of their turnover.
Civil society representatives also say that many aspects of the normative act could affect fundamental rights of citizens and are “a threat to freedom of expression”.
“The non-transparent development and discussion of fundamental rules related to the organization of the May elections without consulting key actors is unacceptable. The project was not put to public debate and did not even reach the table of the Economic and Social Council. We recall that, in accordance with the legal framework in force, the public consultation stage is mandatory and precedes the institutional path“, the press release of the 11 NGOs shows.
The cited source also says that, to this point, neither the public authorities responsible for organizing the elections (MAI and AEP), nor the security structures that reported irregularities, have published a report on the causes and implications of those irregularities.
“The President of the Electoral Authority Toni Greblă even stated that he had organized the elections impeccably, ignoring only one fundamental problem – the fact that they were canceled, including for reasons related to the failure to control electoral financing. In the absence of such an analysis, it is very difficult to assess whether the measures proposed by the Government respond to the identified problems,” the aforementioned source adds.
Representatives of government organizations say that people’s trust in the electoral process has decreased worryingly, and public authorities must assume the errors made in the first round of the presidential elections and come up with a clear and predictable legal framework that allows for equal conditions for all candidates.
“Considering that public trust in the electoral process has decreased worryingly and the social context is still inflamed after the annulment of the previous presidential elections, the signatory organizations emphasize the importance of publicly discussing all critical aspects related to the regulation of the new elections. Public authorities must identify and assume the errors made in the first round and propose a clear and predictable legal framework that allows for a real and fair electoral debate in the online environment, offering equal conditions for all candidates – and not an additional and excessive limitation of political communication. This is not an easy task especially in the context of the digital environment – that is why transparency and explanation of the principles and the proposed process are important,” the press release continues.
Non-governmental organizations consider it “unacceptable for the Government to adopt such a normative act without a real public debate and without an analysis that starts from those aspects that affected the first round of the canceled election”.
At a first quick reading of the text leaked by the press, there are many aspects of the proposed project that may affect fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, or that directly conflict with already existing normative acts – the DSA Regulation or Law no. 334 on the financing of the activity of political parties and electoral campaigns. Civil society representatives complain that Article 15 of the Ordinance adopted by the government on Thursday is unclear.
“For example, art. 15, in the form that appeared in the media, seems to regulate including a personal post on a social network, made by a private person, or a personal photo with the favorite candidate. It is not clear from the wording of this article that the regulations would refer exclusively to materials published by a political actor or on his behalf, as provided for by the European Regulation on political advertising. The legislation on online campaigning is already complex and restrictive in places. It is crucial that the regulation of communication during the electoral campaign does not infringe on the freedom of expression of ordinary citizens who express themselves on social networks. Such a broad definition of political advertising in art. 15 poses a threat to freedom of expression because it imposes restrictive rules on content that should not fall within the scope of political advertising. Therefore, this article must be amended,” says the aforementioned source.
In addition, the GEO introduces regulations on political advertising that contradict the legislation on financing electoral campaigns and on the organization of elections, which creates even more confusion.
Non-governmental organizations also draw attention to the fines for large social media platforms provided for in the emergency ordinance adopted “in haste” by the Government.
“Also, art. 16 (7) of the text, which provides for substantial fines for large platforms, seems to ignore that their regulation is done – according to the EU DSA Regulation, cited in the text itself – directly by the European Commission, and Romanian institutions cannot issue fines to legal entities that are not registered in Romania”, according to the mentioned source.
Issues regarding the transparency of electoral political financing remain unresolved, say the 11 NGOs At the same time, other fundamental issues related to the transparency of political and electoral financing remain unresolved: the types of materials allowed during the campaign, the massive budgets from subsidies, the transparency and real verification of campaign expenses, the publication of interim financing reports, etc.
“We express our regret that the Government chooses to apply the same opaque methods of governance, in such a political and social context, in which citizens’ trust in traditional parties and state institutions has collapsed, and this can only be rebuilt with openness on their part. Without a real public debate, the authorities are hastily adopting a normative act that risks restricting political opinions and the legitimate debates that must exist in society,” the letter concludes.
The letter is signed by the following non-governmental organizations: Expert Forum, ApTI – Association for Technology and Internet, ActiveWatch, Center for Public Innovation, Center for the Study of Democracy, Spiritual Militia, Respiro Human Rights Research Centre Association, Center for Civic Resources, Maria Krause, independent electoral expert, CeRe: Resource Center for Public Participation, Center for Independent Journalism.
Reuters on the amendment to the electoral law and the fines for social networks: “It is unclear how they can be applied”
In an article presenting the measures taken by the Government through an emergency ordinance, British news agency Reuters also writes about the fines announced by Ciolacu for social media networks, such as TikTok, if legal obligations regarding the electoral campaign are violated.
Reuters emphasizes, however, that it is not clear how fines “ranging between 1 and 5% of the platforms’ turnover” can be given, since these entities are not registered in Romania.
“The European Union and NATO state which borders Ukraine was plunged into institutional chaos last year when Calin Georgescu, a little-known far-right pro-Russian politician, won the first presidential round on Nov. 24,” Reuters explained.
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The vage wording of this emergency ordinance can, if interpreted according to the likes of the “state”, prosecute even me as a private person promoting whoever I like over my personal Instagram account. They are making people angrier day by day!