Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
The General Scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill was approved by Government on 9 January 2020 and subsequently published on 10 January 2020. The government also approved the detailed drafting of the proposed Bill by the Office of the Attorney General.
Due to the dissolution of the Dáil and Committees in January, pre-legislative scrutiny was delayed. Detailed drafting of the Bill by the AGO is ongoing.
Following Government approval of additional provisions on 24 November 2020, the finalised General Scheme was published by the Minister. The finalised General Scheme was forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General so that they may continue detailed drafting of the Bill. The finalised General Scheme was also referred to the relevant Joint Oireachtas Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny.
Input from and engagement with stakeholders, whether they are members of the public, companies, NGOs or other government organisations, has been vital to the development of the development of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill. This will remain true going forward.
Examples of stakeholder engagement undertaken in developing the General Scheme includes:
There are already significant regulatory and legal frameworks in place in relation to many online issues, including data protection and criminal justice responses to criminal activities online. However, there is a serious gap both internationally and in Ireland when it comes to addressing harmful online content. This new law will close the legal gap and establish a robust regulatory framework to deal with the spread of harmful online content.
The Bill provides for the appointment of an Online Safety Commissioner as part of a wider Media Commission to oversee the new regulatory framework for online safety. The Commissioner will govern this new framework through binding online safety codes and robust compliance, enforcement and sanction powers.
Online safety codes will deal with a wide range of issues, including measures to be taken by online services to tackle the availability of harmful online content, for example cyberbullying material, on their services.
The Bill will also transpose the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive into Irish law. It will place the regulation of video on-demand services on a direct statutory footing and align the regulation of such services with television broadcasting services.
The Bill will establish a more effective oversight and appropriate regulation of audio-visual media services established in Ireland. On-demand audiovisual media services will be required to register with the Media Commission.
A provision for the introduction of a levy on television broadcasting services and video on-demand services available in Ireland to fund audiovisual content production in Ireland, subject to further research and recommendations by the Media Commission and a commencement order by the Minister will be included in the Bill.
In broad terms, the proposed Bill seeks to provide for:
General Scheme of the Online Safety Media Regulation Bill
DownloadOSMR Regulatory Impact Analysis
DownloadOSMR Regulatory Impact Analysis Annex
DownloadAudiovisual Media Services Directive Explainer
DownloadAudiovisual Media Services Directive and OSMR correlation table
DownloadOSMR Regulatory Framework Online Safety Graphics
DownloadOSMR Scheme Q and A Explanatory Note
DownloadOSMR Online Safety Workshop Summary June 2020
DownloadOnline Safety and Media Regulation Bill Q&A
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