20th March 2023 |
Bills
This document outlines the heads of the General Scheme of the Digital Services Bill 2023.
The EU Regulation known as the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) came into force in EU law on 16 November 2022 and will fully apply in member states from 17 February 2024.
While many of the obligations, such as the requirements on providers of online intermediary services will apply directly, it is necessary to give effect to some of the Digital Services Act’s provisions with national legislative measures. In particular, Ireland is obliged to designate and empower a competent authority, known as the Digital Services Coordinator, to supervise and implement the Digital Services Act.
Coimisiún na Meán was established by the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 on 15 March 2023. The Government has decided that it will designate Coimisiún na Meán as the Digital Services Coordinator.
The General Scheme gives effect to that decision and provides for some miscellaneous other matters, such as the liability regime for providers of online intermediary services and the harmonisation of Court Orders to take down illegal content from online services.
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. It implements the EU law and supplements the 2022 Act with provisions that are specifically required for Coimisiún na Meán in its role as the Digital Services Coordinator.
An overview of the Digital Services Act can be found at Digital Services Act (DSA).
Topics:
Digital Single Market