Ireland: High Court upheld Media Commission’s authority to adopt parts of Online Safety Code following a challenge filed by X Internet Unlimited Company

On 29 July 2025, the High Court of Ireland upheld the Media Commission’s authority to adopt parts of the Online Safety Code under section 139K of the Broadcasting Act 2009, as amended by the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022. The Court rejected a challenge by X Internet Unlimited Company, challenged the legal authority of the Media Commission to impose measures under the Code, in particular sections 12.1, 12.6 to 12.9, and 13.6 to 13.9, on the grounds that they exceeded what was permitted under Article 28b of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and conflicted with the Digital Services Act (DSA), a fully harmonised European Union regulation governing intermediary services. The Court examined whether the Code, as adopted, constituted a lawful specification and complement to the DSA under Article 2(4) thereof, or whether it unlawfully encroached upon or contradicted harmonised provisions under the DSA, especially with regard to transparency obligations set out in Article 14. The judgment analysed the legislative intent and the hierarchy of European Union instruments, recognising the AVMSD as lex specialis to the DSA in the context of video-sharing platform services (VSPS), and concluded that the contested provisions of the Code gave proper effect to Article 28b AVMSD and did not conflict with the DSA, thereby falling within the Media Commission’s regulatory powers.