11th July 2024
Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary TD, has welcomed the approval of the Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024 by the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Bill completed its passage through the Seanad yesterday evening and it will now be sent to the President to be signed into law.
The Bill empowers Coimisiún na Meán and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to charge a levy on service providers in order to fund their enforcement and regulatory functions, under the EU Digital Services Regulation and the Terrorist Content Online Regulation.
Speaking on the legislation, Minister Calleary said:
“The Digital Services (Levy) Bill means that, from next year, Coimisiún na Meán and the CCPC will be funded by industry to undertake their functions as required by these two important EU digital regulations.
“The levy funding model provides for sustainability, flexibility, and independence for the regulators, and will ensure Ireland effectively and efficiently implements the Digital Services Regulation and the Terrorist Content Online Regulation. Levy funding also reduces the burden on the taxpayer.”
ENDS
Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024
The Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024 amends the Broadcasting Act 2009, as amended by the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, to extend Coimisiún na Meán’s power to raise a levy in Section 21 of that Act to cover its new functions under the Digital Services Regulation and the Terrorist Content Online Regulation.
It does this by introducing two new categories of providers, those that must comply with the Digital Services Regulation and those that must comply with the Terrorist Content Online Regulation.
The Bill, secondly, amends the Digital Services Act 2024 to introduce a power for the CCPC to raise a levy for its new functions under the Digital Services Regulation. It empowers the CCPC to levy providers of online marketplace intermediary services to fund its new functions as a competent authority with respect to that group of online providers, under the Digital Services Regulation. The Bill models it on An Coimisiún’s existing levy power, so that the two levies are aligned.
Finally, the Bill empowers An Coimisiún and the CCPC to agree arrangements so that one authority can collect levy funding on behalf of the other.
EU Digital Services Regulation
The EU Digital Services Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act), has applied in full in all Member States since 17 February 2024.
The EU Digital Services Regulation establishes clear and proportionate rules to protect consumers and their fundamental rights online, whilst simultaneously fostering innovation, growth and competitiveness, and facilitating the scaling up of smaller platforms, SMEs and start-ups. It aims to rebalance the responsibilities of users, platforms, and public authorities according to European values, placing citizens at the centre.
The EU Regulation introduces rules for online Intermediary Service Providers (ISPs). These include providers of network infrastructure; internet access; domain name registrars; cloud and web-hosting services; platforms bringing together sellers and consumers such as online marketplaces and app stores; and social media platforms.
Digital Services Act 2024
The Act designated Coimisiún na Meán as the Digital Services Coordinator and lead competent authority for the Digital Services Act. It designated the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) as a second competent authority, with specific responsibility for online marketplaces. The Act also provided the authorities with the necessary powers for supervision and enforcement of the DSA, including, the ability to impose administrative fines and penalties.
The Government allocated €2.7 million for 2023 to set up the DSC function in An Coimisiún and €6 million for its first year of operation in 2024.
Terrorist Content Online Regulation
The EU Regulation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online, known as the ‘Terrorist Content Online Regulation’ (TCOR) applies to hosting service providers, whose business consists of the storage of information provided by and at the request of a content provider, or user that has provided information that is, or that has been, stored and disseminated to the public by a hosting service provider. Coimisiún na Meán has been designated since November 2023 as competent authority for overseeing the implementation of specific measures pursuant to Article 5 of the TCOR.
