Tag: illegal

Coimisiún na Meán awards the Central Bank of Ireland with first Trusted Flagger Status in Ireland

Coimisiún na Meán, has announced the decision to grant Trusted Flagger status to the Central Bank of Ireland. Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), Coimisiún na Meán as the Digital Services Coordinator in Ireland has the power to award Trusted Flagger status to entities established in Ireland who meet certain conditions.

Trusted Flaggers are empowered to identify, detect and notify illegal content within their area of expertise to online platforms. Providers of online platforms are then legally obliged to ensure that notices of the presence of illegal content, reported by Trusted Flaggers are given priority and decided upon without undue delay.

Speaking about the announcement, Digital Services Commissioner, John Evans said: “Coimisiún na Meán is committed to ensuring a media landscape that consumers can trust, and where they are protected from exploitation and fraud. We recognise that financial scams and fraud are a concern to the Irish public, and we welcome the Central Bank of Ireland’s expertise in this area. By granting the Central Bank of Ireland Trusted Flagger Status, we are legally obliging online platforms to ensure that any illegal online content reported by the Central Bank of Ireland, such as financial scams and fraud are prioritised by the platform and dealt with in a timely manner.”

“The Trusted Flagger status is a new statutory mechanism that offers empowerment for organisations by placing obligations on the platforms to give priority to Trusted Flagger notifications. Entities awarded Trusted Flagger status are recognised as such across the EU. Trusted Flaggers will also feed into Coimisiún na Meán’s identification of trends and issues via annual reports which will be instrumental in establishing an informed, evidence-based approach to our platform supervisory activities.”

Meanwhile, Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, said: “The Central Bank of Ireland is delighted to be the first organisation in the country to be granted Trusted Flagger Status by Coimisiún na Meán. This accreditation marks another milestone in the Bank’s commitment to protecting consumers and strengthens our efforts to disrupt the activities of unauthorised providers of regulated financial services. We look forward to continuing our work to strengthen the framework of consumer protection in Ireland through this new status.”

Under Article 22 of the DSA, Trusted Flagger status can be granted to entities who meet the following conditions:

• It has particular expertise and competence for the purposes of detecting, identifying and notifying illegal content;

• It is independent from any provider of online platforms;

• It carries out its activities for the purposes of submitting notices diligently, accurately and objectively.

The Central Bank of Ireland have been granted the Trusted Flagger status for three years, from 2 April 2025 to 2 April 2028. Their designated area of expertise is financial scams and fraud, including the provision and/or offer of financial services without authorisation. Upon the expiry of the accreditation period the Trusted Flagger status is reassessed and, where appropriate, re-granted.

Further information on the role of Trusted Flaggers and the obligations of online platforms in respect of notices issued by Trusted Flaggers can be found on our dedicated Trusted Flaggers page on the website.

Enforcement action continues across Ireland targeting illegal IPTV providers

Another wave of legal warnings have been delivered in person, by post, and by email to individuals across Ireland involved in providing illegal access to premium TV content.

The cease-and-desist notices instruct those running the services to immediately cease all illegal streaming activity otherwise risk facing the consequences, including criminal prosecution. They were issued to addresses within the counties of Mayo, Monaghan, Galway, Louth, Dublin, Cork, and Laois between 7th and 18th August.

These legal notices form part of a broader targeted campaign in Ireland designed to disrupt and shut down organised and sophisticated piracy networks.

FACT has been working in partnership with broadcasters and law enforcement to deliver this latest action. The first wave occurred across Ireland in March, with a number of illegal streaming services taken down and legal proceedings brought against individuals.

In response to the first wave, one of the individuals who was initially targeted has spoken about his regret. Sean, a former IPTV seller from the West of Ireland said:

“I didn’t think that what I was doing was a serious offence. I didn’t think that anyone ever paid attention to copyright crime, let alone investigate and track people down for it.”

“I was shocked when they knocked at my door and now regret what I’ve done. It’s caused me so much worry and I wish I’d never got involved in the first place – it isn’t worth the stress.”

“I know there are others out there doing what I did and thinking they will never get found out – but if they can find me, they could find you.”

Kieron Sharp, CEO at FACT, commented: “Illegal IPTV service providers are breaking the law and putting consumers at real risk of malware, data loss and identity theft.

“Consumers who pay for pirate services should also know that they are often funding serious organised crime groups.

“FACT and partners remain committed to disrupting these criminal operations and protecting consumers”.

The legal notices have already seen disruption with those targeted taking down their sites and advertising. This interference to their illegal operations is likely to continue.

In May, five men were sentenced in total to just over 30 years in prison in the UK for their part in running three illegal streaming services – Flawless, Shared VPS and Optimal. The ringleader of the operation, Mark Gould, was sentenced to 11 years, which is a significant custodial sentence for these types of offences (fraud, money-laundering and contempt of court)

The case, which was a private criminal prosecution, was brought by the Premier League and supported by Sky and others.

In other steps to tackle piracy, the Premier League was granted a new, enhanced blocking order in Ireland, while Sky was granted a similar order, designed to protect its sports and entertainment content in the UK.