Online Safety

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Last week, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted the first designation decisions under the Digital Services Act (DSA) which designated certain services as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and / or Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) in accordance with Article 33(4) of the DSA. 

17 VLOPs and 2 VLOSEs were designated under the decisions adopted by the Commission:

  • VLOPs: Alibaba AliExpress; Amazon Store; Apple AppStore; Booking.com; Facebook; Google Play; Google Maps; Google Shopping; Instagram; LinkedIn; Pinterest; Snapchat; TikTok; Twitter; Wikipedia; YouTube; Zalando.
  • VLOSEs: Bing; Google Search.

It has been reported that…

Continue Reading European Commission designates VLOPs and VLOSEs under the Digital Services Act

Yesterday, 01 February 2023, the Commission published guidance on how online platforms and search engines within the scope of the Digital Services Act (DSA) should comply with their obligation to report user numbers in the EU.

As highlighted in our recent update, the DSA requires providers of online platforms and of online search engines to publish, by 17 February 2023, information on the average monthly active recipients of their services in the EU, on their publicly available online interfaces. The number must be calculated as an average over the period of the past six months.

Online platforms/search engines, whose numbers reach the threshold of 45 million average monthly active recipients in the EU, will be designated by the Commission as very large online service providers (VLOPs) or very large online search engines (VLOSEs). However, the Commission is not bound by information provided by online service providers, – it may use other available data or request additional information.

While the guidance is not ground breaking, it provides a helpful interpretation of certain provision of the DSA.

In relation to the calculation of active recipients of the service, the guidance stipulates the following:Continue Reading DSA: Commission issues guidance on the requirement to publish user numbers in the EU

Coimisiún na Meán (the Media Commission), is currently in the process of being established in accordance with the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act (OSMR). Further information on its establishment and the appointment of the first four commissioners to Coimisiún na Meán can be read here.

In addition to its role as the supervisory authority under the OSMR and as Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Irish Government also plans to designate Coimisiún na Meán as the competent authority under the Terrorism Content Online Regulation (the TCO).

What is…

Continue Reading Coimisiún na Meán to be designated as Competent Authority under the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation

The first draft delegated regulation supplementing the Digital Services Act (DSA) was published by the European Commission yesterday.

The regulation outlines the criteria to be used when calculating the supervisory fees which will be charged on very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs) under Article 43 of the DSA.

In particular, it includes:Continue Reading DSA: Delegated Regulation setting the methodology and procedure for determining the Supervisory Fee

On 19 December 2022, the Commissioner for Internal Market of the EU published an update on the date when very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs) will be required to comply with the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The Commissioner noted that VLOPs / VLOSEs will be required to comply with the new rules by no later than 1 September 2023. To meet the deadline the Commission would need to designate VLOPs and VLOSEs by 28 April 2023. Based on this update the current timeline of the DSA application is as on the graphic below.Continue Reading Digital Services Act: Timeline

 Update on the Electoral Reform Act 2022

The Electoral Reform Act 2022 (the Act), brings about significant changes to the electoral system in Ireland.

From the perspective of online platforms, Part 4 and Part 5 will be of key importance as they impose new obligations on platform providers to (i) ensure transparency in respect of online political advertising on their services; and (ii) to notify/take action in respect of dis/misinformation relating to online electoral processes on their services.

While the Act was signed into law on 25 July 2022, only certain sections of the Act have been commenced.  Part 4 and Part 5 of the Act have not yet been commenced.Continue Reading Update on the Electoral Reform Act 2022

The Digital Services Act (DSA), a major EU regulation for online content, was signed into law yesterday.

The DSA together with the Digital Markets Act (the DMA) form part of an EU legislative strategy that seeks to create a level playing field for both big and small businesses in the digital world, create a harmonized approach to doing business online and to create a safer environment for users online.

What ‘s new

More particularly, the DSA aims to achieve the following objectives:

  1. Establish a powerful transparency and accountability framework for internet intermediaries:

The DSA will hold intermediaries…

Continue Reading Digital Services Act Update

The Government has published the long anticipated Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022 which it has hailed as a “watershed moment as we move from self-regulation to an era of accountability in online safety”.

Online safety is one of the headline items, and it will be overseen by the newly-established Media Commission (Coimisiún na Meán). The Bill also seeks to implement a number of other key legislative reforms including the transposition of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the alignment of the regulation of video on-demand services with traditional broadcasting.

The publication of this Bill follows input from and engagement with key stakeholders from the public, NGOs, companies and government organisations over the course of the last three years.

We have summarised some of the key aspects of the Bill below.Continue Reading Online Safety & Media Regulation Bill 2022

The European Parliament has adopted a new Regulation requiring online platforms to remove or disable access to flagged terrorist content in all Member States within one hour.  The Regulation will come into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, and will apply 12 months after its entry into force.
Continue Reading New EU Regulation adopted requiring fast removal of terrorist online content