At the occasion of the adoption of the Joint report the Rapporteurs noted that “the internet and social media had opened new opportunities for political participation and had become essential in the electoral process”. At the same time, “electronic challenges to democracy, including cybercrime, were nonetheless high and extremely complex, due in particular to the borderless nature of the internet and the private ownership of information. A legal response to these challenges was needed. Some form of regulation was called for, but it had to respect fundamental freedoms, in particular, freedom of expression, economic freedom, the right to privacy and social rights.”