25 Amendments of Francis ZAMMIT DIMECH related to 2018/0331(COD)
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) In order to cover those online hosting services where terrorist content is disseminated, this Regulation should apply to information society services to consumers which store information provided by a recipient of the service at his or her request and in makingthe dissemination of the information stored available to third parties, irrespective of whether this activity is of a mere technical, automatic and passive nature. By way of example such providers of information society services include social media platforms, video streaming services, video, image and audio sharing services, file sharing and other cloud services to the extent they and websites where users can make comments or post reviews. Microenterprises and small-sized enterprises within the meaning of Title I of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC and providers of services such as online encyclopaedias, educational and scientific repositories, open source software developing platforms, online marke the information available to third parties and websites where users can make comments or post reviewstplaces, cloud infrastructure service providers that do not have access to customer content and cloud providers (including business to business cloud services) that do not share content to the general public, and services at other layers of the Internet infrastructure than the application layer, should not be considered hosting service providers within the meaning of this Regulation. The Regulation should also apply to hosting service providers established outside the Union but offering services within the Union, since a significant proportion of hosting service providers exposed to terrorist content on their services are established in third countries. This should ensure that all companies operating in the Digital Single Market comply with the same requirements, irrespective of their country of establishment. The determination as to whether a service provider offers services in the Union requires an assessment whether the service provider enables legal or natural persons in one or more Member States to use its services. However, the mere accessibility of a service provider’s website or of an email address and of other contact details in one or more Member States taken in isolation should not be a sufficient condition for the application of this Regulation.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24 a (new)
Recital 24 a (new)
(24 a) Transparency of relevant Union bodies and competent authorities' actions in relation to the number or removal orders and referrals issued, as well as to the preservation of terrorist content and related data is essential to enhance their accountability towards their citizens and to reinforce their trust in the Digital Single Market. Competent authorities should publish annual transparency reports containing meaningful information about actions taken in relation to their use of the terrorist content and related data preserved for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences.
Amendment 144 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Complaint procedures constitute a necessary safeguard against erroneous removal of content protected under the freedom of expression and information. Hosting service providers should therefore establish user-friendly complaint mechanismsThe relevant Union bodies and competent authorities should, in co-operation with hosting service providers establish effective and accessible mechanisms allowing content providers whose content has been removed or access to it disabled as a result of a removal order or a referral to submit a compliant and ensure that complaints are dealt with promptly and in full transparency towards the content provider. The requirement for the hosting service provider to reinstate the content where it has been removed in error, does not affect the possibility of hosting service providers to enforce their own terms and conditions on other grounds.
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) In order to ensure the effective and sufficiently coherent implementation of proactive measuresadoption of rules on penalties as well as their implementation and enforcement, competent authorities in Member States should liaise and cooperate with each other with regard to the discussions they have with hosting service providers as to the identification, implementation and assessment of specific proactive measures. Similarly, such cooperation is also needed in relation to the adoption of rules on penalties, as well as the implementation and the enforcement of penalties.
Amendment 154 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) Given the particular serious consequences of certain terrorist content, hosting service providers should promptly inform the authorities in the Member State concerned or the competent authorities where they are established or have a legal representative, about the existence of any evidence of terrorist offences imminent threat they become aware of. In order to ensure proportionality, this obligation is limited to terrorist offences as defined in Article 3(1) of Directive (EU) 2017/541o life or safety as a result of terrorist offenses of which they become aware of. The obligation to inform does not imply an obligation on hosting service providers to actively seek any such evidence. The Member State concerned is the Member State which has jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of the terrorist offences pursuant to Directive (EU) 2017/541 based on the nationality of the offender or of the potential victim of the offence or the target location of the terrorist act. In case of doubt, hosting service providers may transmit the information to Europol which should follow up according to its mandate, including forwarding to the relevant national authorities.
Amendment 158 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34
Recital 34
(34) In the absence of a general requirement for service providers to ensure a physical presence within the territory of the Union, there is a need to ensure clarity under which Member State's jurisdiction the hosting service provider offering services within the Union falls. As a general rule, the hosting service provider falls under the jurisdiction of the Member State in which it has its main establishment or in which it has designated a legal representative. Nevertheless, where another Member State issues a removal order, its authoritiesy should be able to enforce theirits orders by taking coercive measures of a non-punitive nature, such as penalty payments. With regards to a hosting service provider which has no establishment in the Union and does not designate a legal representative, any Member State should, nevertheless, be able to issue penalties, provided that the principle of ne bis in idem is respected.
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 37
Recital 37
(37) For the purposes of this Regulation, each Member States should designate one competent authoritiesy. The requirement to designate one competent authoritiesy does not necessarily require the establishment of a new authoritiesy but can be an existing bodiesy tasked with the functions set out in this Regulation. This Regulation requires designating authorities competent for issuing removal orders, referrals and for overseeing proactive measures and for imposing penalties. It is for Member States to decide how many authorities they wish to designate for these task and for imposing penalties.
Amendment 180 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) rules on duties of care to be applied by hosting service providers in order to prevent the dissemination of terrorist content through their services and ensure, where necessary, its swift removalthe expeditious removal of terrorist content;
Amendment 187 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
The application of this Regulation, and in particular any measures or decisions taken by the hosting service provider in compliance with this Regulation, shall not affect the application of Articles 14 and 15 of Directive 2003/31/EC. This Regulation leaves unaffected the powers of national authorities and courts to establish liability of hosting service providers in specific cases where the conditions under Article 14 of Directive 2000/31/EC for liability exemption are not met.
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
(1) 'hosting service provider' means a provider of information society services to consumers which consisting in the storage of information provided by and at the request of the content provider and in makingthe dissemination of the information stored available to third partiesto the public. Microenterprises and small- sized enterprises within the meaning of Title I of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, providers of services such as online encyclopaedias, educational and scientific repositories, open source software developing platforms, online marketplaces, cloud infrastructure service providers that do not have access to customer content and cloud providers (including business to business cloud services) that do not share content to the general public, and services at other layers of the Internet infrastructure than the application layer, shall not be considered hosting service providers within the meaning of this Regulation;
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
(5 a) Content disseminated for educational, journalistic or research purposes shall not be considered to be terrorist content and shall be adequately protected. Furthermore, the expression of radical, polemic or controversial views in the public debate on sensitive political questions shall not be considered terrorist content;
Amendment 253 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
1. The competent authority shall have the power to issue a decisionremoval order requiring the hosting service provider to remove terrorist content or disable access to it.
Amendment 261 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
2. Hosting service providers shall remove terrorist content or disable access to it within one hour fromexpeditiously upon receipt of the removal order.
Amendment 267 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 4 – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) a detailed statement of reasons explaining why the content is considered terrorist content, at least, by reference to the categories of terrorist content listed in Article 2(5)shall be systematically included in each removal order;
Amendment 286 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 8
Article 4 – paragraph 8
8. If the hosting service provider cannot comply with the removal order, for instance because the removal order contains manifest errors or does not contain sufficient information to execute the order, it shall inform the competent authority without undue delay, asking for the necessary clarification, using the template set out in Annex III. The deadline set out in paragraph 2 shall apphosting service provider shall remove the terrorist content or disable access to it expeditiously as soon as the clarification to the removal order is provided.
Amendment 290 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 9
Article 4 – paragraph 9
9. The competent authority which issued the removal order shall inform the competent authority which oversees the implementation of proactive measures, referred to in Article 17(1)(c) when the removal order becomes final. A removal order becomes final where it has not been appealed within the deadline according to the applicable national law or where it has been confirmed following an appeal.
Amendment 299 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. The referral shall contain sufficiently detailed information, including thea detailed statement of reasons why the content is considered terrorist content, a URL and, where necessary, additional information enabling the identification of the terrorist content referred.
Amendment 325 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2
Article 7 – paragraph 2
2. The terrorist content and related data referred to in paragraph 1 shall be preserved for six months. The terrorist content shall, upon request from the competent authority or court, be preserved for a longer period when and for as long asspecifically defined longer period when necessary for ongoing proceedings of administrative or judicial review referred to in paragraph 1(a).
Amendment 329 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2
Article 8 – paragraph 2
2. Hosting service providers, and competent authorities and relevant Union bodies shall publish annual transparency reports on action taken against the dissemination of terrorist content.
Amendment 334 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. Transparency reports of hosting service providers shall include at least the following information:
Amendment 345 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Transparency reports of competent authorities and relevant Union bodies shall include information on the number of removal orders and referrals issues, and on their use of the terrorist content which has been preserved pursuant to Article 7 for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences.
Amendment 378 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 4
Article 13 – paragraph 4
4. Where hosting service providers become aware of any evidence imminent threat to life or lives as a result of terrorist offences, they shall promptly inform the authoritiesy competent for the investigation and prosecution in criminal offences in the concerned Member State or the point of contact in the Member State pursuant to Article 14(2), where they have their main establishment or a legal representative. Hosting service providers may, in case of doubt, transmit this information to Europol for appropriate follow up.
Amendment 388 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 17 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Each Member State shall designate thone authority or authorities competent to
Amendment 393 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Article 17 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Member States shall ensure that 'competent authority' means a local, national or international judicial body with the power to issue, enforce and amend binding legal orders in their relevant jurisdictions.
Amendment 406 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 4
Article 18 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall ensure that a systematic failure to comply with obligations pursuant to Article 4(2) is subject to financial penalties of up to 4% of the hosting service provider's globalEuropean turnover of the last business year.