Electoral Reform Act 2022
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Online political advertisements commissioned from outside the State | ||
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125. (1) Notwithstanding section 123 , an online political advertisement shall not, directly or indirectly, be placed, displayed, promoted or disseminated in the State by a person resident at an address outside the State, unless the buyer of the online political advertisement— | ||
(a) is a natural person and provides evidence that he or she is a citizen of Ireland, | ||
(b) is a company, body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons, and the buyer provides evidence that it maintains an office in the State from which the buyer carries on one or more than one of the buyer’s principal activities or from which the carrying on of those activities are directed, | ||
(c) is a natural person and provides evidence that he or she is a national of a Member State (other than the State) and the online political advertisement relates to an election to the European Parliament held in the State in accordance with the Act of 1997, | ||
(d) is a company, body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons, and the buyer provides evidence that it is registered or incorporated in a Member State (other than the State) in accordance with the laws of that Member State and maintains an office in that Member State from which the buyer carries on one or more than one of the buyer’s principal activities or from which the carrying on of those activities are directed and the online political advertisement relates to an election to the European Parliament held in the State in accordance with the Act of 1997, or | ||
(e) is a European political party and provides evidence of its registration under Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 and the online political advertisement relates to an election to the European Parliament held in the State in accordance with the Act of 1997. | ||
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall operate to prevent the buyer of an online political advertisement from purchasing an online political advertisement for placement, display, promotion or dissemination in the State if the buyer is a natural person and is resident at an address in the State. | ||
(3) The purchase of an online political advertisement for placement, display, promotion or dissemination in the State by a buyer of an online political advertisement referred to in subsection (1)(b), shall be arranged through the buyer’s office in the State. | ||
(4) For the purposes of this section, an online platform is deemed to know that a person referred to in subsection (1) is resident at an address outside the State if there are reasonable grounds for concluding that the online platform so knows on the basis of— | ||
(a) information in the possession of the online platform (whether obtained under section 122 , 123 , 124 or otherwise), | ||
(b) in a case where the online platform has contravened section 122 or 123 , information that would have been in the possession of the online platform if it had complied with that provision or those provisions, or | ||
(c) public information that is widely available. | ||
(5) Subject to subsection (1), a person resident outside the State shall not, directly or indirectly, purchase an online political advertisement for placement, display, promotion or dissemination in the State. | ||
(6) An online platform which places, displays, promotes or disseminates an online political advertisement purchased by a person who is prohibited by this section from purchasing such an advertisement for placement, display, promotion or dissemination in the State shall be guilty of an offence. |