Austria: Communications Platform Law with content moderation requirements adopted

The Communications Platform Law/Law to alter KommAustria Law (German: Bundesgesetz, mit dem ein Kommunikationsplattformen-Gesetz erlassen und das KommAustria-Gesetz geändert wird) has been approved by the Federal Council on 17 December 2020 and has therefore been adopted by the Parliament. It will enter into effect on 1 January 2021. The law requires affected communications platforms to offer a transparent and user-reporting system. Further, the law provides that patently illegal content must be deleted within 24 hours of reporting, while less obviously illegal content must be checked and, in case of illegality, deleted within 7 days. The law also provides for sanctions in the event of failure to comply, along with the possibility for users to report such a failure to the responsible regulator. The law applies to for-profit communications network providers (excluding those which are primarily online marketplaces) with over 100,000 annual registered Austrian users and revenue of above €500,000.