This first report by CEDMO’s Work Package 5 offers an initial assessment of how the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Code of Conduct on Disinformation (CoC) are being implemented in three Central European countries covered by the hub: Czechia, Slovakia, and Poland. It seeks to understand how EU-level frameworks are being translated into national realities, particularly in terms of data access for research and cooperation with fact-checking organisations.
The report draws on a combination of qualitative and quantitative inputs collected between September 2024 and January 2025. These include a targeted online survey of 54 experts across 21 countries — with focused analysis of 18 respondents from the CEDMO region — and platform/fact-checker feedback submitted through the last Signatories’ Subscription Forms (March 2025). In addition, selected findings from CEDMO’s country briefs have been incorporated to provide complementary insights based on platform self-reporting under the Code.
Across the two thematic pillars, the evidence highlights several recurring difficulties. For data access, researchers continue to face technical, legal, and financial barriers, exacerbated by the discontinuation of CrowdTangle and the limitations of alternative tools. In the area of fact-checking, recent changes in platform commitments — such as Google’s public announcement on January 25 of its withdrawal from the relevant Code chapters — raise concerns about the continuity and transparency of partnerships.
Given the limited response rates and the variability of information across platforms and countries, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Rather than offering definitive conclusions, this report aims to document observable trends and early implementation gaps, providing a basis for ongoing monitoring and informed policy dialogue at both national and European levels.
Authors: Mattias BOURGEOIS, Jana SOUKOUPOVA, Jana KAZAZ, Pawel TERPILOWSKY