10th May 2024 |
Bills
This General Scheme of the Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024 was approved by government on 30 April 2024. It extends Coimisiún na Mean and Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s levy raising powers to fund new enforcement functions under the Digital Services Act and the Terrorist Content Online Regulation.
The Digital Services Act 2024 designated Coimisiún na Meán as the lead competent authority for the EU Digital Services Regulation, known as the Digital Services Coordinator and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as the competent authority with responsibility for the oversight of obligations in the Digital Services Regulation that apply only to providers of online marketplace intermediary services.
Coimisiún na Meán was also designated as competent authority for overseeing the implementation of specific measures of the EU Regulation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online, known as the ‘Terrorist Content Online Regulation’ (SI No 545 of 2023).
The General Scheme provides the legislative basis to:
- extend Coimisiún na Meán’s levy raising power and introduce a levy raising power for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to those service providers that are in scope of the Digital Services Act
- extend the levy raising power to providers in scope of the Terrorist Content Online Regulation, for which Coimisiún na Meán has also been designated as a Competent Authority
- enable Coimisiún na Meán and the CCPC to agree arrangements so that one authority can collect levy funding on behalf of the other, to minimise the administrative burden on platforms supervised by both authorities
The General Scheme should be read in conjunction with the EU Regulation, the Digital Services Act and the Broadcasting Act 2009, as amended by the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 and the Digital Services Act 2024.
Related link
Overview of the Digital Services Act
Topics:
Digital Single Market, The Business Environment