Bulgaria

[BG] Social media profiles of media outlets brought explicitly within the Election Code's campaign restrictions

IRIS 2026-8:1/15

Nikola Stoychev

Dimitrov, Petrov & Co., Law Firm

On 7 August 2026, the Act amending and supplementing the Election Code – the Act (Закон за изменение и допълнение на Изборния кодекс) was promulgated in the State Gazette (Държавен вестник) and has already come into force – just in time for the upcoming presidential elections in October.

The change of greatest significance for the media sector (and the local political process and election campaigns) amends the definition of “media service” in paragraph1, point 15 of the additional provisions of the Election Code (Изборен кодекс). Media services are still considered to be the print media and any media disseminated over electronic communications networks, namely the public and commercial electronic media and online news services.

The newly added wording draws a distinction that did not previously exist. Social networks and personal blogs are still not media services; the amendment, however, now expressly carves out the social media profiles of those print and electronic media and makes them subject to the prohibitions under Article 182, paragraph 4 and Article 205, paragraph 5 of the Election Code. As a result, the ban on election canvassing during the 24-hour period of silence and the ban on publishing election-related poll results before the official end of election day now also apply to those profiles, whereas personal blogs and individual accounts remain outside their scope.

The stated aim is to close the loophole by which the official profiles of established outlets could carry content (and potentially affect the election process) that those outlets could not lawfully publish otherwise. Whether that aim is achieved is, however, far from clear. The practical effect will turn on enforcement, and in particular on whether the regulator can consistently distinguish a media profile from a private account and how the regulator will approach this (as the amendment itself does not distinguish between them).