More than 3,300 Romanians have used the #nofake reporting mechanism, launched by the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalization (MCID) in May 2024, to flag inappropriate content on social media platforms. Designed to address issues like deepfakes, scams, election-related misinformation, and hate speech, #nofake acted as an intermediary, forwarding reports from Romanian citizens to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or to the relevant national authorities, the ministry said.

“Only half of the notifications received represented inappropriate content, and of these, around 70% are deepfakes about investments or miracle drugs intended to defraud the population,” the Ministry of Research said.

“These reports were forwarded to the platforms directly from MCID for reports of fraud, scams, or harassment.”

Since October 24, the ministry has received 475 requests, most of them about electoral materials, which it then forwarded to the Permanent Electoral Authority for analysis and removal.

The initiative worked with institutions like the National Authority for Communications Administration and Regulation (ANCOM), the National Cybersecurity Directorate (DNSC), and the National Audiovisual Council (CNA), according to the Ministry of Research. More than ten working group meetings were held with public institutions and social media platforms to streamline reporting processes under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).

The ministry also highlighted that social media platforms independently verified reports and acted in accordance with their community standards, which align with the Digital Services Act. Deepfakes, scams, and other harmful content were removed only if deemed to violate platform policies.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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