Portugal

[PT] Portugal establishes ANACOM as the national digital service coordinator

IRIS 2026-6:1/1

Elsa Costa e Silva

Universidade do Minho

The Portuguese parliament has finalised the implementation of the Digital Services Act, designating the National Authority for Communication (Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações - ANACOM) as the Portuguese Digital Service Coordinator. Law No. 12-A/2026, of 15 April, has also established, as other coordinators, the Media Regulatory Agency (Entidade reguladora para a comunicacao social - ERC) and the National Commission for Data Protection (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dado - CNDP).  

ANACOM is now the national authority that supervises the compliance of the platforms established in Portuguese territory, and will be the contact point for the European Commission. The national coordinator will be assisted by a consultative committee, composed of members of the scientific community and civil society (including consumer protection or business associations) to be nominated by the government.

The Media Regulatory Agency will be responsible for supervising issues related to commercial communications and minors. Thus, in addition to assessing the transparency of advertising and commercial communications and the functioning of recommendation systems, ERC will also analyse whether platforms communicate in a way that is understandable to children and whether they have taken measures to protect their online privacy and safety.

As for the National Commission of Data Protection, its responsibilities include supervising matters relating to the protection of personal data in the context of the requirements of the Regulation.