On 19 July 2023, the Irish Government announced their intention to appoint John Evans as the Digital Services Commissioner in Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM). His appointment will take effect from 24 July 2023.

As per Head 6 of the General Scheme of the Digital Services Bill which was published by the Irish government earlier this year, it is intended that Mr Evans will be responsible for coordinating the supervision and enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in Ireland as the Digital Services Commissioner. He will also be responsible for liaising and cooperating with the European

Continue Reading Commissioner for Digital Services in Coimisiún na Meán to be Appointed

On 31 May, Minister for Justice Simon Harris signed the European Union (Online Dissemination of Terrorist Content) (Designation of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána as a Competent Authority) Regulations 2023 (the Regulations) into law. The Regulations designate An Garda Síochána as:

  1. the Irish competent authority for issuing removal orders in accordance with Article 3 of the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation 2021/784 (the TCO); and
  2. the Irish contact point for clarification and feedback in relation to the removal orders that it issues.

Article 3 TCO provides that a competent authority of each EU Member State has

Continue Reading An Garda Síochána appointed as a competent authority under the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation

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

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

Today, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin announced the appointment of four Commissioners to Coimisiún na Meán/the  Media Commission. The Media Commission, which  is currently in the process of being established in accordance with the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act (OSMR), will act as the supervisory authority under the OSMR and as Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and will have the responsibility to implement and enforce the Digital Services Act, an EU Regulation, in Ireland.

The following individuals are being appointed as commissioners:

  • Jeremy
Continue Reading Appointment of Executive Chairperson and Commissioners to Coimisiún na Meán

The Digital Services Act (DSA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union today. It will enter into force on 16 November 2022, i.e. 20 days from the date of publication in the Official Journal.

Who will be affected?

The DSA will apply to a range of providers of digital “intermediary services” (which will include mere conduit services, caching services and hosting services), where such services are offered to natural or legal person recipients that are established or located in the EU. Broadly, the obligations set out in the DSA are proportionate to the scale
Continue Reading Digital Services Act published in EU’s Official Journal

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