Romania

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-06

Legea audiovizualului nr. 504/2002 requires linear television and radio broadcasters, and providers of on-demand audiovisual media services, to restrict minors' access to programs that could seriously affect their physical, mental, or moral development, through scheduling, coding, or another technical access-restriction system, with a distinct and lighter contravention regime for on-demand services.

Romania has no social-media minor-access restriction, app-store age-verification requirement, or age-appropriate design code distinct from the EU's Digital Services Act and Audiovisual Media Services Directive framework.

01

Instruments on record

Legea nr. 504/2002 (Legea audiovizualului), art. 39 and art. 39^1, Minors Protection in Television, Radio, and On-Demand Audiovisual Media Services

In force

Legea audiovizualului nr. 504 din 11 iulie 2002, art. 39 și art. 39^1, republicată și actualizată

Applies to both

Legea audiovizualului nr. 504 was adopted 11 July 2002 and remains in force, amended repeatedly since. A television or radio broadcaster may not broadcast programs that could seriously affect minors' physical, mental, or moral development, in particular programs containing pornography or unjustified violence, per art. 39(1).

Where a program that could affect that development is broadcast in an uncoded form or without another technical access-restriction measure, it may be shown only after an acoustic or graphic warning, with a visual warning symbol displayed for the whole program, per art. 39(3). A provider of an on-demand audiovisual media service may make available a program that could affect minors' development only if access-restriction measures ensure that minors cannot normally see or hear it, per art. 39^1.

Breach of the linear-broadcast duty under art. 39 is a contravention carrying a fine of 10,000 to 200,000 lei, imposed directly by the Consiliul Național al Audiovizualului (CNA); breach of the on-demand duty under art. 39^1 is a separate, lighter-touch contravention under which CNA first issues a formal notice to come into compliance, with a fine of 5,000 to 100,000 lei applying only if the provider fails to comply with that notice or repeats the violation.

Enforcement bodyConsiliul Național al Audiovizualului (CNA, National Audiovisual Council)

Source: Full text of law