DUBLIN — Ireland’s Online Safety Code came into force Monday, including a provision requiring adult sites headquartered in Ireland to implement age assurance measures beyond self-declaration.
The Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s media regulator, finalized the Online Safety Code in October 2024. The code establishes mandatory guidelines for video-sharing platforms headquartered in Ireland, including a section titled “Age Assurance and Adult-Only Video Content.”
That section requires sites that permit adult content to “implement effective age assurance measures as defined in this Code to ensure that adult-only video content cannot normally be seen by children.”
Age assurance based solely on self-declaration of age by users is not considered an effective measure under the code.
Violations of the Online Safety Code can incur fines up to 20 million euros or 10% of a site's annual global turnover, whichever is greater.
Earlier this month, Commissioner of Digital Services John Evans described “holding regulated entities to account” as the core of the Coimisiún na Meán’s mandate. He stated that the agency’s role is “moving beyond a self-regulatory model which in many respects hasn’t worked.”
Sites not headquartered in Ireland are also subject to age assurance requirements, under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In May, the European Commission initiated formal proceedings against several high-volume adult sites for “suspected breaches” of DSA rules.
