Digital Services Bill signed into law

On 12 February, having considered the Digital Services Bill 2023, the President signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law.

The Bill will give effect to the Irish national implementation of the EU’s Digital Services Act. 

In December we provided a detailed summary of the initial draft of the Bill and how it contrasted with the previously published General Scheme.

The final text is largely the same as the original draft. 

Many of the amendments made to the final version are focused on clarifying procedural obligations in respect of Article 59 (Referral to the European Commission) and Article 60 (Joint Investigations) of the DSA.

Some of the other notable changes from the original draft include:

• amendments to sections 38 and 139ZX of Broadcasting Act 2009 in order to clarify the position in respect of the ability to bring a judicial review of a decision by CnaM in respect of a “contravention” under the Broadcasting Act 2009; and

• the final text of the Bill reintroduced provisions in respect of Article 9 and 10 of the DSA (similar provisions which had been included in the original General Scheme of the Bill). The wording of these new Sections 198 and 199 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 are notable. These sections provide that “when a State authority issues an order under” Article 9 or 10, the State authority must meet the requirements set out in Article 9(2) and 10(2) respectively. However, Article 9 and 10 do not, in themselves, provide powers for Member State authorities to issue orders. Those Articles provide that, where a Member State authority has power to issue an order and it issues an order which meets the procedural conditions within those articles, the service provider is obliged to respond “without undue delay”. So it is strange that the new provisions provide for a State authority to issue orders under Article 9 and 10. 

The new legislation is subject to commencement orders so the provisions will not commence until the Minister has issued a statutory instrument, which is expected in the coming days. 

The Act has not yet been published on the Oireachtas website.

For more information on this topic, please contact John Cahir, Partner, John Whelan, Partner, Chris Bollard, Partner, Andrew Sheridan, Partner, Mark Ellis, Partner, Aideen Burke, Eoghan O'Keeffe, Knowledge Consultant, Tara Sullivan, Trainee Solicitor or your usual ALG contact.

Date published: 13 February 2024