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ARTICLE · 03 MAY 2023

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Digital Services Reform: General Scheme Of Digital Services Bill Published

William Fry LLP
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William Fry LLP

William Fry LLP

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The DSA is designed to provide greater online safety, imposing obligations on the providers of various online intermediary services, such as social media and e-commerce websites.

IrelandMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
John O'Connor
John O'Connor
Rachel Hayes
Rachel Hayes
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The Digital Services Act (DSA), part of the EU's Digital Services reform package, entered into force on 16 November 2022.

The DSA is designed to provide greater online safety, imposing obligations on the providers of various online intermediary services, such as social media and e-commerce websites. The DSA will not take full effect until 17 February 2024. However, several of its provisions have taken immediate effect, including the requirement for designated online platforms and online search engines to publish their number of active users by 17 February 2023.

General Scheme

While most of the DSA will apply directly in EU Member States, national legislation is required to give effect to some of its provisions. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has recently published the general scheme of a Digital Services Bill 2023 (the General Scheme). The General Scheme addresses the designation of a Digital Services Coordinator for Ireland (as referred

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