In 2023 the Italian Communications Authority (âAGCOMâ) was given new tools to fight audiovisual piracy, including the use of dynamic injunctions to block domain names and IP addresses that unlawfully distribute live broadcasts of film premieres, sports events, and events of social significance. The Italian Parliament is now debating an amendment to that Law no. 93/2023 (âLawâ), which goes even further. The first key amendment authorises AGCOM to order the takedown of IP addresses that…
Almost exactly one year after it was tabled, and after having passed under the Conseil constitutionnelâs microscope â with some important casualties, in particular the censure of the online contempt offence â the French Law on Securing and Regulating the Digital Space (âSREN Actâ) was enacted on 21 May 2024. The SREN Act aims to further regulate the digital space, focusing on three major areas: (i) protecting citizens, particularly minors; (ii) ensuring European economic and…
In a groundbreaking decision, an Austrian regional court has held that certain provisions of the Collective Redress Directive (Directive (EU) 2020/1828, âCRDâ, sometimes also referred to as Representative Actions Directive) are directly applicable given that Austria failed to transpose the directive into national law. As a consequence, the EUâs rules on privacy, AI, and digital products will soon see increased private collective enforcement. The CRD, adopted by the European Union in 2020, aims to facilitate…
On 10 April 2024, the French National Assembly adopted the Bill on Securing and Regulating the Digital Space (known as the “SREN Billâ), following the Senateâs validation a week earlier. The Bill contains a multitude of provisions, regarding a variety of important topics in the digital realm such as the protection of children online and reducing dependence of French companies on cloud service providers. The bill is expected to become law in the coming weeks.…
Proposed licensing of social media and internet messaging services providers and a new draft bill on digital safety â these are some of the recent updates in the online content space for Malaysia. On 15 December 2023, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) reported that there was a significant increase in harmful content on social media and over-the-top platforms in 2023 as compared to in 2022.1 Against this backdrop, the Malaysian Government (as with its…
The SDPA and the CNMC, among other institutions, launch a series of coordinated actions related to the age verification of minors online, aimed at reinforcing their protection and preventing their access to harmful content. As in the rest of the European Union, the protection of minors online is one of the main areas of concern of Spanish authorities such as the Spanish Data Protection Agency (“SDPA”), the National Commission for Markets and Competition (“CNMC”) and…
A law aimed at establishing a digital majority and combating online hate (the “Digital Majority Law” or âLawâ) was enacted on 7 July 2023[1]. 1. The Digital Majority Law creates new obligations for social network service providers operating in France. According to this Law, an online social network service is defined as “any platform enabling end-users to connect and communicate with each other, share content and discover other users and content, across multiple devices, in…
On 9 November 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that an EU Member State may not subject an information society service provider (ISSP) established in another EU Member State to general and abstract regulatory measures that deviate from measures of the Member State in which the ISSP is established (Câ376/22). In doing so, it declared the Austrian Communication Platforms Act and, by implication, many other national online platform regulations, inapplicable…
The Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes wide-ranging and transformative obligations on online intermediaries and platforms. As has been well-publicised over the last few months, the most onerous obligations, and tighter deadlines for compliance, fall on services designated by the Commission as very large online platforms (VLOPs) or very large online search engines (VLOSEs). However, all online platforms and online search engines were required to publish information on their user figures earlier this year, and all…
Social media has become an increasingly vital part of firmsâ marketing strategies across industries, and the financial sector â including its growing number of financial influencers or âfinfluencersâ â is no exception. In light of this trend the UK financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has published a consultation to update its guidance on social media financial promotions. With this new guidance, the FCA wants to ensure its expectations of financial promotions on…