ANACOM Chair discusses the regulation of digital services and the role of artificial intelligence

Sandra Maximiano, Chair of ANACOM's Board of Directors, attended two events where she addressed digital services and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

On 17 April 2024, she was a guest speaker at a lunch debate organised by the Information Systems Governance European Club, where she spoke about ANACOM's powers and work in a constantly evolving sector and its role as coordinator of digital services, as well as the challenges facing regulation in this area, among other subjects.

On this occasion, the Chairwoman of ANACOM informed the audience of the changes resulting from the entry into force of the Digital Services Act, highlighting its main objective: to protect democracy by creating a secure and reliable digital environment, limiting the existence of fake news and disinformation that reappears during election periods.

She also emphasised that access to information and transparency are essential to prevent illegal content.

She also mentioned the obligations of large platforms to assess the risks to society of the services they provide and to ensure the transparency of the algorithms they use. Restrictions on targeted advertising and on platforms that employ people online were also mentioned, emphasising that the aim is for "the online world to follow the same principles as the offline world".

Sandra Maximiano also spoke about ANACOM's role as DSC, as it is responsible for monitoring digital services and certifying external bodies, including trusted flaggers, dispute resolution bodies and researchers who can access data to assess the transparency of algorithms.

She also mentioned the importance of working with the other European coordinators and ANACOM's ongoing work to identify the needs to bring the internal legal order into line with the Digital Services Act, as well as the need to ensure the funding of digital regulation.

The role of AI and the reality it creates was another of the topics she addressed, stressing that it enhances the ability of companies to take advantage of consumer trends and that, as a regulator, ANACOM must remain aware of this dimension.

She also highlighted the importance of developing collaborative working to increase knowledge and the need to recruit resources with new skills to keep up with technological developments. She believes that interaction with academia is very important as it can help to increase knowledge.

On 16 April, Sandra Maximiano participated in the conference "How is AI changing our lives?", organised by Closer.

Left to right: Pedro Mota Soares, Paulo Portas, Sandra Maximiano, Nuno Amado and moderator João Leal Fernandes, from Closer.

She discussed how AI can change our lives and the communications sector in Portugal, and the role of regulation in fostering innovation. On a panel that also included Paulo Portas, Director of Mota-Engil, Nuno Amado, Chairman of Millennium BCP, and Pedro Mota Soares, Secretary General of Apritel, she also addressed fair share, connectivity and the externalities it enables, and the financing of regulation, among other topics.

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