Ireland referred to EU court over failure to comply with online terrorism content law
The Terrorist Content Online (TCO) Regulation requires extremist material to be taken down by an EU Member state within one hour of receiving a removal order from a law enforcement agency.
It was introduced in 2022 to counter the spread of extremist ideology online in order to prevent attacks and radicalisation.
The European Commission today said it considers that Ireland, along with Bulgaria and Portugal, have failed to comply with one or more obligations under the TCO Regulation.
'This includes the requirement to designate the authority or authorities responsible for enforcing the Regulation and ensuring compliance, and to notify the Commission of those authorities; to establish a public contact point to handle requests for clarification and feedback in relation to removal orders; and to lay down the rules and measures on penalties in case of non-compliance of hosting service providers with their legal obligations,' it said in a statement.
The EU Commission sent letters of formal notice to the three countries in January 2023 for failure to comply with the obligations, and sent 'reasoned opinions' early last year, outlining the alleged breaches and requesting that measures are taken to address these within a specified time.
'The Commission is now referring these Member States to the Court of Justice of the European Union, as it considers that they have not yet addressed all the concerns raised in the letter of formal notice and reasoned opinion and have still not complied with one or more obligations under the Regulation,' it added.
The EU's infringement procedures state that most cases are settled before being referred to the court but, if Ireland fails to communicate measures that implement the provisions of a directive in time, the commission may ask the court to impose penalties.
Last September the then Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, designated Coimisiún na Meán as the competent Irish authority under the TCO Regulation to impose penalties on hosting service providers who do not comply with their obligations.
Coimisiún na Meán were given the power to impose administrative fines on hosting service providers up to 4pc of global turnover, for infringements of the TCO Regulation.
An Garda Síochána is the authority competent in Ireland for issuing removal orders.
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The EU Commission says that the TCO Regulation has been instrumental in countering the spread of terrorist online content, enabling the swift removal of the most heinous and dangerous material.
'Terrorist and violent extremists use online platforms to spread terrorist and harmful content, gather funds and recruit. Vulnerable users, particularly minors, are being radicalised online at an alarming rate,' it said.
The regulation notes that the services of hosting service providers 'are in certain cases abused by third parties for the purpose of carrying out illegal activities online. Of particular concern is the misuse of those services by terrorist groups and their supporters to disseminate terrorist content online in order to spread their message, to radicalise and recruit followers, and to facilitate and direct terrorist activity.'
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