European UnionDigital Services Act (DSA), Article 16 (Notice and action mechanisms)
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Article 16
In force since .
A notice and action rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Disclosure
As of .
What it requires
- Put a mechanism in place that allows any individual or entity to notify you of the presence on your service of specific items of information that they consider to be illegal content. Make it easy to access and user-friendly, and allow notices to be submitted exclusively by electronic means.
- Design the mechanism to enable and facilitate notices that contain all of the following: a sufficiently substantiated explanation of why the information is alleged to be illegal content; the exact electronic location of the information, such as the exact URL or URLs; the name and email address of the person submitting the notice, except for information considered to involve one of the offences in Articles 3 to 7 of Directive 2011/93/EU; and a statement confirming the notifier's bona fide belief that the notice is accurate and complete.
- Treat a notice that allows a diligent provider of hosting services to identify the illegality without a detailed legal examination as giving you actual knowledge or awareness of that item for the purposes of Article 6, and so remove or disable access to it expeditiously to keep the hosting exemption.
- Where the notice contains the notifier's electronic contact information, send a confirmation of receipt of the notice without undue delay.
- Notify the notifier without undue delay of your decision on the information the notice relates to, and give information on the possibilities for redress in respect of that decision.
- Process notices and take decisions on the information they relate to in a timely, diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner. Where you use automated means for that processing or decision-making, include information on that use in the notification of your decision.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
Article 52(3) requires Member States to set the maximum fine for a failure to comply with an obligation in the Regulation at 6 % of the provider's annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, and the maximum fine for supplying incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, failing to reply or rectify, or failing to submit to an inspection at 1 % of annual income or worldwide turnover. Article 52(4) sets the maximum periodic penalty payment at 5 % of average daily worldwide turnover or income per day.
- Rule
- Turnover pct only
- As of
- Turnover percentage cap
- 6
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The authorities of the Member State in which the provider's main establishment is located (Article 56(1)) and, for providers of very large online platforms and of very large online search engines, the European Commission (Article 56(3)).
What this law does
Article 16 requires a provider of hosting services to put mechanisms in place that allow any individual or entity to notify it of specific items of information on its service that they consider to be illegal content. The mechanisms must be easy to access and user-friendly and must allow notices to be submitted exclusively by electronic means.
A notice that allows a diligent provider of hosting services to identify the illegality without a detailed legal examination is considered to give rise to actual knowledge or awareness of that item for the purposes of the hosting exemption in Article 6. Where a notice carries the notifier's electronic contact information, the provider must send a confirmation of receipt without undue delay.
The provider must also notify the notifier, without undue delay, of its decision on the information and of the possibilities for redress. Notices must be processed, and decisions taken, in a timely, diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner.
Article 17 separately requires a provider of hosting services to give an affected recipient a clear and specific statement of reasons for restrictions, including removal or demotion of content, imposed on the ground that the information is illegal content or incompatible with the provider's terms and conditions.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates a social platform.