Broadcasting Act 2009

PART 1 Preliminary and General matters

1. Short title.

1.— This Act may be cited as the Broadcasting Act 2009.

2. Definitions.

2.— F1[(1)] In this Act—

“Act of 1926” means Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926;

“Act of 1972” means Wireless Telegraphy Act 1972;

“Act of 1988” means Broadcasting and Wireless Telegraphy Act 1988;

“Act of 1998” means Referendum Act 1998;

“Act of 2001” means Broadcasting Act 2001;

F2[“advertisement”includes a commercial communication;

“audiovisual broadcasting service”means an audiovisual media service provided for simultaneous or near-simultaneous viewing of audiovisual programmes on the basis of a programme schedule;

“audiovisual commercial communication”means a commercial communication consisting of images with or without soundF3[, including sponsorship and product placement];

F4["audiovisual media service" means:

(a) a service, within the meaning of Articles 56 and 57 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, where -

(i) the principal purpose of the service is devoted to, or

(ii) the principal purpose of a dissociable section of the service is devoted to,

providing audiovisual programmes, by electronic communications networks, to the general public, under the editorial responsibility of the provider of the service, in order to inform, entertain or educate, or

(b) an audiovisual commercial communication;]

“audiovisual on-demand media service”means an audiovisual media service provided for the viewing of programmes at the moment chosen by the user and at the user’s request on the basis of a catalogue of programmes selected by the provider of the service;

“audiovisual programme”means a set of moving images with or without sound which, in the case of an audiovisual media service, constitutes an individual item, irrespective of its length, within a programme schedule or a catalogue;]

“Authority” means Broadcasting Authority of Ireland;

F5[…]

“BCI” means Broadcasting Commission of Ireland;

“broadcast” means the transmission, relaying or distribution by electronic communications network of communications, sounds, signs, visual images or signals, intended for direct reception by the general public whether such communications, sounds, signs, visual images or signals are actually received or not;

“broadcaster” means a person who supplies a compilation of programme material for the purpose of its being transmitted, relayed or distributed as a broadcasting service (whether that person transmits, relays or distributes that material as such a service or not);

F5[…]

“broadcasting contract” means a contract entered into under section 63, 64, 68 or 70;

“broadcasting contractor” means a person holding a broadcasting contract;

F5[…]

“broadcasting service” means a service which comprises a compilation of programme material of any description and which is transmitted, relayed or distributed by means of an electronic communications network, directly or indirectly for simultaneous or near-simultaneous reception by the general public, whether that material is actually received or not, and where the programmes are provided in a pre-scheduled and linear order, but does not include:

(a) a service provided in a non-linear manner where each user of the service chooses a programme from a catalogue of programmes, or

F6[(b) any other service which is provided by way of the internet, if the service does not provide audiovisual programmes;]

F2[“category 1 offence”means an offence the penalties for which are specified insection 139ZZH(1);

“category 2 offence”means an offence the penalties for which are specified insection 139ZZH(2);

“category 3 offence”means an offence the penalties for which are specified insection 139ZZH(3);

“Charter”means the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;]

“children” means persons under the age of 18 years;

F2[“commercial communication”means images or sound or both—

(a) designed to promote, directly or indirectly, the goods, services or image of a person pursuing an economic activity, and

(b) included in or accompanying a programme or user-generated content in return for payment or for similar consideration or for self-promotional purposes;

“Commissioner”has the meaning given bysection 11(2);]

“Communications Regulator” means Commission for Communications Regulation;

F6[“communications media”means—

(a) broadcasting services,

(b) audiovisual on-demand media services,

(c) designated online services, or

(d) newspapers or periodicals consisting substantially of news and comment on current affairs;]

“community broadcaster” means a person holding a contract under sections 64, 68(1)(b) or 72;

“community of interest” means a group of persons with a shared interest, association or bond;

F5[…]

“content provision contract” has the meaning assigned to it in section 71;

F5[…]

“corporation” means RTÉ or TG4 or both, as the case may be;

“Council Directive” means Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989^1 on the co-ordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities as amended by Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997^2 and by Directive 2007/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2007^3;

F2[“Data Protection Regulation”means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016^3on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);

“designated online service”means a service designated undersection 139E;

F7[“Digital Services Regulation”means Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022^2on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act);]

“Directive”means Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010^4on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018^5;]

“director general” means a person appointed as the director general of a corporation under section 89 (1);

F2[“E-Commerce Directive”means Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000^6on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market;

“editorial responsibility”, in relation to providing programmes, means effective control—

(a) over the selection of the programmes, and

(b) over their organisation in a programme schedule or in a catalogue;]

F8[“electronic communications network” means transmission systems, whether or not based on a permanent infrastructure or centralised administration capacity, and, where applicable, switching or routing equipment and other resources, including network elements which are not active, which permit the conveyance of signals by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic means, including satellite networks, fixed (circuit- and packet-switched, including internet) and mobile networks, electricity cable systems, to the extent that they are used for the purpose of transmitting signals, networks used for radio and television broadcasting, and cable television networks, irrespective of the type of information conveyed;]

“EEA Agreement” has the meaning assigned to it in the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993;

F5[…]

F5[…]

F9[“EMFA”means Regulation (EU) 2024/1083 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024^5establishing a common framework for media services in the internal market and amending Directive 2010/13/EU (European Media Freedom Act);]

F6[“employment”includes—

(a) full-time paid employment,

(b) part-time paid employment,

(c) temporary paid employment for a period of 16 weeks or more in the period of a year, or

(d) being retained under contract, directly or indirectly, in any capacity as an adviser, consultant or lobbyist, or for the provision of services;]

F6[“establishment day”means the day appointed by the Minister undersection 5to be the establishment day for the purposes of this Act;]

F5[…]

“exploitation of commercial opportunities object” means an activity undertaken by a corporation in pursuance of paragraph (j) of section 114(1) or paragraph (i) of section 118(1);

“free-to-air service” means a broadcasting service for the reception of which no charge is made by the person providing the service;

F2[“harmful online content”has the meaning given bysection 139A(1);]

“holder” means—

(a) in relation to a contract entered into under this Act, the person with whom the Authority has entered into the contract,

(b) in relation to a licence granted under this Act or any other enactment, the person to whom the licence has been granted;

“holding company” has the same meaning as in the F6[Companies Act 2014];

F10["hosting service provider" has the same meaning as it has in the Terrorist Content Online Regulation;]

F5[…]

F7[“intermediary service provider”means a provider of intermediary services;]

“Joint Oireachtas Committee” means a Joint Committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas to which those Houses have assigned the role of examining matters F6[to which this Act relates];

“local community” means the community of a town or other urban or rural area;

F6[“media literacy”means public understanding of material published in print, broadcast, online or other media, including understanding of—

(a) the nature and characteristics of published material,

(b) how material is selected, or made available, for publication,

(c) how individuals and communities can create and publish material, and

(d) how access to published material is or can be regulated;]

F2[“media service code”means a code made undersection 46N;

“media service provider”means a person who provides an audiovisual media service;

“media service rules”means rules made undersection 46O;]

“Member State” includes a state that is a contracting state to the EEA Agreement;

F7[“Member State competent authority”means an authority that is designated by a Member State (other than the State) as a competent authority for the purposes of Article 49(1) of the Digital Service Regulation;]

F7[“Member State Digital Services Coordinator”means an authority that is designated by a Member State (other than the State) as a Digital Services Coordinator for the purposes of Article 49(2) of the Digital Service Regulation;]

“Minister” means Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources;

F5[…]

“multiplex” has the meaning assigned to it by section 129;

“multiplex contractor” means the holder of a contract entered into under section 131;

“multiplex licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 129;

“national emergency” means an emergency declared under section 10 of the Act of 1926;

F2[“online safety code”means a code made undersection 139K;

“Online Safety Commissioner”means a Commissioner designated undersection 11(7)as an Online Safety Commissioner;]

F5[…]

F2[“personal data”has the same meaning as it has in the Data Protection Regulation;]

F3["product placement" means any form of audiovisual commercial communication consisting of the inclusion of, or reference to, a product, a service or the trade mark thereof so that it is featured within a programme or a user-generated video, in return for payment or for similar consideration;]

F2[“programme”means a sound programme or audiovisual programme;]

“programme material” F2[(subject tosection 153)] means audio-visual material or audio material and includes advertisements F5[…];

F2[“programme schedule”means a chronological schedule of audiovisual or sound programmes;]

“provide a broadcasting service” means to supply a compilation of programme material for the purpose of its being transmitted, relayed or distributed as a broadcasting service;

F2[“provider of communications media”means—

(a) in the case of a broadcasting service, the broadcaster of the service,

(b) in the case of an audiovisual on-demand media service, the media service provider who provides the service,

(c) in the case of a designated online service, the person who controls the service, and

(d) in the case of newspapers or periodicals consisting substantially of news and comment on current affairs, the person who controls the newspaper or periodical;]

“public service broadcaster” means RTÉ, TG4, the Houses of the Oireachtas Channel and the Irish Film Channel;

“public service broadcasting licence” means a licence issued under section 121;

“public service objects” shall mean an activity undertaken by a corporation in pursuance of paragraphs (a) to (i) of section 114 (1) or paragraphs (a) to (h) of section 118 (1);

“Raidió Teilifís Éireann” means the authority established under section 3 of the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960;

F2[“relevant online service”means—

(a) a video-sharing platform service the provider of which is under the jurisdiction of the State, or

(b) any other information society service, within the meaning of Article 1(1)(b) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015^7—

(i) the provider of which is under the jurisdiction of the State, and

(ii) on which user-generated content is made available (directly or through providing access to another service),

but does not include an audiovisual on-demand media service;]

“RTÉ” means Raidió Teilifís Éireann;

“sectoral” means pertaining to the provision of broadcasting and broadcasting related services;

F6[“sound broadcasting service”means a service, within the meaning of Articles 56 and 57 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, where—

(a) the principal purpose of the service is devoted to providing sound programmes, by electronic communications networks, to the general public, under the editorial responsibility of the provider of the service, in order to inform, entertain or educate, and

(b) the service is provided for simultaneous or near-simultaneous listening to sound programmes on the basis of a programme schedule;]

F3["sponsorship" means any contribution made by a public or private undertaking or natural person not engaged in providing audiovisual media services or video-sharing platform services or in producing audiovisual works to the financing of audiovisual media services, video-sharing platform services, user-generated videos or programmes with a view to promoting the name, trade mark, image, activities or products of the undertaking or person.]

“statutory committee” means the Contract Awards Committee or the Compliance Committee or both, as the case may be;

“subscription or pay-per-view basis”, in relation to the making available of a broadcasting service, means any basis for making a charge on a person in respect of the reception by him or her of a broadcasting service, and includes the basis of making such a charge by reference to the number of items of programme material viewed by him or her;

“subsidiary” has the same meaning as in the F6[Companies Act 2014];

“superannuation benefits” means pensions, gratuities or other allowances payable on resignation, retirement or death;

“Teilifís na Gaeilge” means the body established by section 44 of the Act of 2001;

“TG4” means Teilifís na Gaeilge;

“television programme service” means a service which comprises a compilation of audio-visual programme material of any description and is transmitted, distributed or relayed by means of wireless telegraphy directly or indirectly for reception by the general public;

“television programme service contract” and “television programme service contractor” have the same meaning as they have in section 70;

“television licence fees” means a fee paid on a licence granted under section 143 in respect of a television set (within the meaning of section 140);

“terrestrial means”, in relation to the transmission of a broadcasting service, means any means of transmitting such a service by wireless telegraphy, other than by means of F5[…] a satellite device and “digital terrestrial means” shall be read accordingly;

F10["Terrorist Content Online Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2021/784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2021^2on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online;]

F5[…]

F2[“user-generated content”, in relation to a relevant online service, means content created by a user of the service and uploaded to the service by that or another user;

“user-generated video”means user-generated content consisting of a set of moving images with or without sound;

“video-sharing platform service”has the meaning given bysubsections (2)and(3);]

F5[…]

“wireless telegraphy” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1926.

F2[(2) In this Act,“video-sharing platform service”means, subject tosubsection (3), a service, within the meaning of Articles 56 and 57 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, where—

(a) the principal purpose of the service is devoted to,

(b) the principal purpose of a dissociable section of the service is devoted to, or

(c) an essential functionality of the service is devoted to,

providing audiovisual programmes or user-generated videos, or both, by electronic communications networks, to the general public, in order to inform, entertain or educate.

(3) A service is a video-sharing platform service withinsubsection (2)only if the provider of the service—

(a) does not have effective control over the selection of the programmes and videos referred to in that subsection, but

(b) determines their organisation, by automatic means or algorithms (including displaying, tagging and sequencing) or otherwise.]

2A. F11[Meaning of “under the jurisdiction of the State”: media service providers.

2A.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, the question whether a media service provider is under the jurisdiction of the State (or another Member State) is to be determined in accordance with this section.