Broadcasting Act 2009

139A

Harmful online content.

139A. (1) For the purposes of this Act, online content is harmful online content if it is one of the following 2 kinds:

(a) content that falls within one of the offence-specific categories of online content defined in subsection (2);

(b) content that

(i) falls within one of the other categories of online content defined in subsection (3), and

(ii) meets the risk test defined in subsection (4).

(2) The offence-specific categories of online content are

(a) the categories listed in Schedule 3, and

(b) any category specified for the purposes of this paragraph by order under section 139B.

(3) The other categories of online content are:

(a) online content by which a person bullies or humiliates another person;

(b) online content by which a person promotes or encourages behaviour that characterises a feeding or eating disorder;

(c) online content by which a person promotes or encourages self-harm or suicide;

(d) online content by which a person makes available knowledge of methods of self-harm or suicide;

(e) any category specified for the purposes of this paragraph by order under section 139B.

(4) Online content meets the risk test for the purposes of subsection (1)(b)(ii) if it gives rise to

(a) any risk to a person’s life, or

(b) a risk of significant harm to a person’s physical or mental health, where the harm is reasonably foreseeable.

(5) For the purposes of this Act, any question whether particular online content falls within a category under this section shall be determined on the balance of probabilities.]

Annotations

Amendments:

F195

Inserted (15.03.2023) by Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 (41/2022), s. 45, S.I. No. 71 of 2023.