"I don't want people to panic that we will ban TikTok or any other app, but we are talking about very clear rules that will govern when we talk about deepfake, misinformation of people. We have two levels. The first is the technical level. Following an analysis made by the ministry with state authorities in cybersecurity matters, we came up with a clear recommendation from the Operational Council for Cybersecurity, whereby any device used in the public administration of Romania is strongly recommended not to have this application installed.

The second aspect, more related to political marketing, is clearly regulated by the AI Act, adopted by the European Parliament, by Romania's AI Strategy, which we are about to adopt in the Government and has been in public debate for over six months, and by the Digital Service Act, a European directive automatically transposed into Romanian legislation for which we have created the enforcement mechanism since December in a form where any content that incites hatred and enmity against the state, which violates democratic rules or is created by AI and does not respect the terms of use of platforms - whether we talk about a standard - will be filtered much more severely and thus, the norms will automatically become harder to violate. We have also created a mechanism that will be implemented in a maximum of two to three weeks, through which any such content that is reported can be removed in no more than 60 minutes", the minister said on B1 TV.

What fines do social platforms risk for violating the rules

Bogdan Ivan also spoke about the penalties provided: "This applies to all social networks, and when it is found that these standards have not been respected, it can lead to hefty fines of up to 7% of the global turnover".

The minister also explained how this control will be concretely done: "There are technical filters, so when you use a certain verbal pattern, certain words, certain behavioral profiles, the filters will automatically prevent the loading of that video, for example. Regardless of the party or whether it's a politician or not. We are talking about a unitary standard that does not favor anyone".