A private international law approach to orders to act against defamatory content following the digital services act

Abstract

The circulation of illegal content online is one of the most worrying risks of the internet, and effective protection for its victims is of paramount importance. Until February 2024, the only legal protection for defamation was limited to judicial orders to act against illegal content, the high cost of which left victims unprotected. Moreover, its national regulation, which allowed for unpredictable rules of Private International law, prevented it from functioning properly. The new Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 for Digital Services (Digital Services Act), together with other enforcement measures, has, for the first time at EU level, introduced a minimum harmonisation regime for orders to act against all types of illegal content. The aim of this paper is to analyse this new regulation in order to assess whether it improves the effectiveness of defamation orders, illustrating this aspect through the judgement of the CJEU Glawischnig-Piesczek.