Social Media Regulation from the Perspectives of National Media Regulatory Authorities in V4

The availability of studies which assess the implementation and performance of social media(SM) regulation within European Union countries is currently sub-optimal. Therefore, thisstudy uses a problem-oriented approach, from a political-regulatory perspective, inspiredby governance concepts, to investigate existing regulatory challenges within a specific regionof Central and Eastern Europe. Based on interviews with the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA) experts from Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, and review ofofficial documents, it provides insights on the regulatory policies and approaches enacted,proposed and used by NRAs. The study found that suggested approaches and opinions ofthe NRAs on possibilities of SM regulations show variety of challenges and that suggestedregulatory approaches are often mutually contradictory. This study thus sets the stage forawareness creation among the key stakeholders that will facilitate further advancement ofplanned common social media regulatory protocols within the EU. Finally, this study setsa foundation for further regional or comparative studies on the regulation of social media.