The information about global media discourses on social media regulation is prepared by the team of the COMPACT project (http://compact-media.eu/). COMPACT is a Coordination and Support Action funded European Commission under framework Horizon 2020. The objective of the COMPACT project is to increase awareness (including scientific, political, cultural, legal, economic and technical areas) of the latest technological discoveries among key stakeholders in the context of social media and convergence. The project will offer analyses and road maps of related initiatives. In addition, extensive research on policies and regulatory frameworks in media and content will be developed.

1. COMPACT PROJECT
Bringing Social Media and Traditional Media Together
Deliverable:
Future Research on Convergence and Social Media
Authors:
Andrej Školkay
with contributions by Lukasz Porwol, Bissera Zankova, Klara Szalay, Ľubica Adamcová, Igor Daniš,
Veronika Vighová and Adina Marincea
1

2. COMPACT H2020 Project
• The information is prepared by the team of
the COMPACT project (http://compact-media.eu/).
• COMPACT is a Coordination and Support Action funded
EuropeanCommission under framework Horizon 2020.
• The objective of the COMPACT project is to increase
awareness (including scientific, political, cultural, legal,
economic and technical areas) of the latest
technological discoveries among key stakeholders in
the context of social media and convergence.The
project will offer analyses and road maps of related
initiatives. In addition, extensive research on policies
and regulatory frameworks in media and content will
be developed.
2

3. Consortium
3

4. Consortium
Participant No
*
Participant organisation name Country
1 (Lead) National University of Ireland (NUI) Ireland
2 School of Communication and Media, n.o. (SCM) Slovakia
3 DATA d.o.o. (DAT) Slovenia
4 The European Digital SME Alliance (EDA) Belgium
5 Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BAS) Bulgaria
6 Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) Slovenia
7 Ontotext Corp (ONT) Bulgaria
8
NGO Agency of European Innovations (AEI)
https://aei.org.ua/
Ukraine
9 Media 21 Foundation (M21) Bulgaria
10 UNIVERSIDADE CATOLICA PORTUGUESA (RCC) Portugal
11 Partnership for Social Development (PSD) Croatia
12 IT Forum (ITF) Denmark
13 The University of Latvia (UL) Latvia
14
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy
(ELI)
Greece
15 Mediaframe Ltd. (MF) UK

5. KEY POLICY AND RESEARCH SUGGESTIONS
5
We suggest asking an international panel of experts (consisting of lawyers, regulators, academics
and practitioners specialised in social media and legacy media regulation, platforms
representatives, citizens-activists/NGOs, psychologists, senior and junior civil servants, AI and
algorithm coding specialists, governmental policy specialists, randomly selected lay persons, etc)
to review rigorously two streams of identified incentives-based approaches´ suitability for (partial
or selective) social media regulation. These streams we call “economy-based” and “technologybased”
approaches. This review could be done in two-three months period using Delphi method
(long-distance and partially independent/anonymised assessment). This approach would possibly
avoid group-think problem. Moreover, it is cost-effective and time-effective method.

6. KEY POLICY AND RESEARCH SUGGESTIONS
6
Independently from above, we suggest considering regulation of "influencers" who are
promoting products and services on social media. The rationale behind this regulation (which may
not be a directive but some alternative form of regulation even at a national level) is protection of
consumers from fake or misleading commercial reviews.

7. KEY POLICY AND RESEARCH SUGGESTIONS
7
We suggest carrying out a comparative study why the Netherlands, Estonia and Ireland appear
to have the most resistant populations against disinformation, false reports and conspiracy
theories. Within this context, it should be answered why the Dutch are particularly trustworthy
of their news coverage, while Greeks are rather sceptical about quality of their news.
We suggest carrying out a comparative study why Hungary, Malta and Greece show low level of
trust in news presented by legacy media.

8. KEY POLICY AND RESEARCH SUGGESTIONS
8
We suggest asking an international panel of researchers – specialists in social media, which of
many suggested regulatory options presented in Table 4 and Table 5, and mostly research
suggestions in Annex 3, should be prioritised. Again, this selection could be done in two-three
months period using Delphi method (long-distance and partially independent/anonymised
assessment). This approach would possibly avoid group-think problem. Moreover, it is costeffective
and time-effective method.

9. CONTENTS
9
GLOBAL MEDIA DISCOURSES ON SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION
SOCIAL MEDIA VS. DEMOCRACY
SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATIONS
A CASE STUDY OF LEGAL MEASURES: HUNGARY
OVERVIEW OF REGULATION ON TARGETING ONLINE HARMS
OTHER REGULATORY MEASURES: TACKLING THROUGH COMPETITION LAW & OTHERS
DISCUSSING REGULATION OF FAKE NEWS
DATA PROTECTION
PROTECTION OF CHILDREN
STOPPING HATE SPEECH ON PLATFORMS
KEY RESEARCH AND POLICY SUGGESTIONS FROM PUBLIC EXPERT DISCOURSES

10. FULL DOCUMENT
10
Available on the COMPACT project website.
At the link: http://compact-media.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/D1.2Future-
Research-on-Convergence-and-Social-Media.pdf