IrelandDefamation Act 2009, Section 45 (Circuit Court Identification Order Against an Intermediary Service Provider)
In force since .
A notice and action rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Disclosure
As of .
What it requires
- If you provide a mere conduit, caching or hosting service, comply with an identification order of the Circuit Court requiring you to give the applicant the information as to the identity, address or other contact information of an anonymous publisher that the order specifies, subject to any conditions the order sets.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Circuit Court, which has jurisdiction to hear and determine an application for an identification order under section 45(1) of the Defamation Act 2009.
What this law does
Section 45(3) of the Defamation Act 2009, inserted by section 22 of the Defamation (Amendment) Act 2026, lets the Circuit Court make an identification order requiring a relevant intermediary service provider to provide the applicant with such relevant information as the court may specify. Relevant information, in relation to an anonymous publisher, means information as to the identity, address or other contact information of the anonymous publisher.
A relevant intermediary service provider is an intermediary service provider that provides the intermediary service by means of which the statement is published, or caused to be published, by the anonymous publisher. An intermediary service means a mere conduit, caching or hosting service that is an information society service.
The court may make the order only where it is satisfied that a statement was published on an information society service by means of an intermediary service provider by an anonymous publisher whose identity is unknown to the applicant.
The court must also be satisfied that the applicant's defamation claim against the anonymous publisher is likely to succeed at trial, that the relevant information is necessary to enable the applicant to bring defamation proceedings, that it is likely to be in the possession of the provider, and that the applicant has no other practicable means of obtaining it.
The court may make the order only where it considers that it is in the interests of justice and that the interests favouring disclosure outweigh those against, and may attach conditions, including terms restricting the use of the information disclosed to the bringing of defamation proceedings against the anonymous publisher. An application must be made in good faith and on notice to the relevant intermediary service provider concerned.
The court may order the applicant to pay any or all of the costs of the relevant intermediary service provider in relation to an application and the costs resulting from the making of any identification order.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates a social platform.