PortugalDecreto-Lei n.º 25/2026 (Decree-Law Adapting National Law to the Terrorist Content Online Regulation), Authorities and Fines
Decreto-Lei n.º 25/2026, de 28 de janeiro
In force since .
A specific illegal content rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Reporting, Governance
As of .
What it requires
- Remove terrorist content, or block access to it, within one hour of receiving a removal or blocking decision, including a cross-border decision, and report the removal or blocking to the authority with its date and hour (Article 5(1)(a) to (c) of the Decreto-Lei n.º 25/2026, backing Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EU) 2021/784).
- Restore or unblock content when a reasoned decision requires it (Article 5(1)(d)).
- Meet the other obligations of the Regulation whose breach Article 5(1)(e) to (n) makes an administrative offence: adopt and apply specific measures, preserve removed content and related data, meet the transparency obligations, run a complaint mechanism and restore content or access where a complaint succeeds, give content providers the information the Regulation requires, tell the police or judicial authorities at once of terrorist content that implies an imminent threat to life, publish a point of contact for removal decisions, and, if your main establishment is outside the Union, designate a legal representative with the necessary powers and publish its details.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Article 5(5)(e) sets the maximum fine for a very serious offence by a large enterprise at EUR 5,000,500, and Article 5(6) sets the maximum fine for a repeat of the one-hour removal offences at 4 percent of worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, if no higher limit applies. Article 5(4) sets the fines for serious offences, up to EUR 1,000,500 for a large enterprise, and Article 7 halves the maxima for negligence or attempt.
- Rule
- Higher of
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 5,000,500
- Turnover percentage cap
- 4
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), which opens and investigates the administrative proceedings and whose board of directors applies the fines under Article 8; the Polícia Judiciária issues the removal and blocking decisions.
What this law does
Article 2(1) makes the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) the competent authority to issue the removal or blocking decisions provided for in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2021/784 and to act on the decisions of other Member States under Article 4. Article 2(2) makes ANACOM the competent authority to supervise the specific measures under Article 5 of the Regulation and every obligation whose breach is an administrative offence, and to impose sanctions.
Article 3 requires the PJ to report each decision to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which must present it to an investigating judge for validation within 48 hours, and the decision lapses if it does not. Article 5(1)(a) and (b) make it an administrative offence (contraordenação) to fail to remove or block terrorist content within one hour of receiving a removal decision, and to fail to report the removal or blocking, with its date and hour.
Article 5(3) classifies the offences in points a), c), f), k), l), m) and n) of paragraph 1 as very serious administrative offences. Article 5(5) sets the fine for a very serious offence at EUR 8,000 to 20,500 for a natural person and up to EUR 5,000,500 for a large enterprise. Article 5(6) sets the maximum fine for a repeat of the offences in points a) and c) of paragraph 1 at 4 percent of the provider's worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, if no higher limit applies.
Article 8 makes ANACOM the authority that opens and investigates these administrative proceedings, with its board of directors applying the fines. Article 17 provides that the decree-law enters into force 60 days after its publication.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates a social platform.