European UnionMarket Surveillance Regulation, Article 14(4), point (k) (power of a market surveillance authority to order removal of content or restriction of access to an online interface)
Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Article 14(4)(k)
In force since .
A notice and action rule binding government bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- This is a duty of the Member States, not of the operator of an online interface: they must confer on their market surveillance authorities, as a minimum, the power to require the removal of content referring to the related products from an online interface, or the explicit display of a warning to end users when they access an online interface, where no other effective means are available to eliminate a serious risk.
- If a market surveillance authority exercises that power against you as the operator of an online interface, such as an online marketplace, remove the content referring to the related products or display the explicit warning to end users that the authority requires.
- If you are an information society service provider and a market surveillance authority requires you to restrict access to an online interface because an earlier requirement to remove content or display a warning has not been complied with, restrict access to it. The authority may do so by requesting a relevant third party to implement the measure.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The market surveillance authorities of the Member States (Article 14(1) and (4)), exercising the power directly, through other public authorities or on application to courts competent to grant the necessary decision (Article 14(3)).
What this law does
Article 14(1) requires Member States to confer on their market surveillance authorities the powers of market surveillance, investigation and enforcement necessary for the application of the Regulation and of Union harmonisation legislation.
Article 14(2) requires the authorities to exercise the powers efficiently and effectively and in accordance with the principle of proportionality, and requires the powers to be conferred and exercised in accordance with Union and national law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, national principles on freedom of expression and the freedom and pluralism of the media, applicable procedural safeguards and the Union rules on data protection.
Article 14(3) allows Member States to provide for a power to be exercisable directly by the market surveillance authorities, by recourse to other public authorities, or upon application to courts competent to grant the necessary decision. Article 14(4) provides that the powers conferred on market surveillance authorities include at least the powers it lists.
Article 14(4), point (k)(i), lists among them the power, where no other effective means are available to eliminate a serious risk, to require the removal of content referring to the related products from an online interface or to require the explicit display of a warning to end users when they access an online interface.
Article 14(4), point (k)(ii), adds the power, where a request according to point (i) has not been complied with, to require information society service providers to restrict access to the online interface, including by requesting a relevant third party to implement such measures.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates an app store or operates a social platform.