Marco Bassini Nominated AGCOM Advisor

The AGCOM (Italy's telecommunications watchdog) board appointed last April Marco Bassini, professor of Constitutional Law at the Department of Legal Studies and coordinator of the LLM in Law of Internet Technology, as advisor to the Authority on information and freedom of expression on digital platforms.

The assignment will be in three distinct areas. The first is the regulation of online platforms, on which Italy will need to adapt to the forthcoming regulation known as the European Digital Services Act (DSA). "The DSA is the first comprehensive text that actually regulates digital services in Europe, and its implementation will entail a very complex activity involving different actors, first and foremost the national regulatory authorities," Bassini says. "Then there is the issue of safeguarding freedom of expression online, which of course must not be restricted in any way but must also be protected from possible abuse. Finally, the role of the various national authorities will also have to be redefined in light of the DSA becoming effective."

These are challenges and transformations that will see the Italian authority at the forefront, not least because AGCOM's president, Giacomo Lasorella, is also vice-president of ERGA (European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services), the body that reunites the regulatory authorities of member states, which is going to play an even more vital role in these processes.