Internet & Online Safety · Austria
Online safety & content laws in Austria (2026)
Austria shaded by its internet & online safety status
As an EU member state, Austria's online content and platform regulation is governed primarily by the directly-applicable EU Digital Services Act, which fully entered into force on 17 February 2024 and harmonises platform liability, notice-and-action, and transparency rules. Austria's national accompanying law (KDD-G) designates KommAustria, operated by regulator RTR, as the Digital Services Coordinator responsible for supervision, complaints handling and trusted-flagger certification. Austria's pioneering national anti-hate-speech law (KoPl-G, in force 2021) has been substantively superseded by the DSA and was constrained by a 2023 CJEU ruling on the country-of-origin principle.
Key points
The Digital Services Act applies directly in Austria; it became fully applicable to all in-scope intermediaries on 17 February 2024, setting EU-wide rules on illegal-content notice-and-action, platform liability exemptions, transparency reporting, and extra duties for very large platforms (VLOPs/VLOSEs) enforced by the European Commission.
Austria's Digital Services Coordinator Act (KDD-G, BGBl. I 182/2023) entered into force on 17 February 2024 and names KommAustria — operated by media regulator RTR — as the national Digital Services Coordinator under Article 49 DSA, with powers over Austria-established intermediaries and complaint handling.
KommAustria's first annual DSC report (published August 2025) records 34 complaints processed in 2024 and certification of six 'trusted flaggers' in Austria — six of the first 16 certified EU-wide — alongside its lead role in the EU working group on removal and information orders.
Austria's national anti-hate-speech Communication Platforms Act took effect 1 January 2021, imposing notice/removal, complaint-redress and transparency duties on large platforms (>100,000 users or >EUR 500,000 turnover); its substance is now overlapped and largely displaced by the DSA.
In Case C-376/22 (Google Ireland, Meta, TikTok), the CJEU ruled on 9 November 2023 that Austria could not apply the KoPl-G's general, abstract obligations to platforms established in other EU member states, reaffirming the e-Commerce Directive's country-of-origin principle.
Austria's government has committed to publishing a draft law by June 2026 setting a minimum age of 14 for social-media access with mandatory age verification, and Austria co-signed a 2025 letter by eleven member states urging EU-wide age-verification rules in the DSA minor-protection guidelines.
Timeline - major decisions & events
KommAustria certified RTR (the regulatory authority's operating arm) as a dispute settlement body under Article 21 DSA, giving Austrian users a route to challenge platform content-moderation decisions. It marked the operational rollout of Austria's DSA complaint and redress system.
RTR / KommAustria ↗The Koordinator-für-digitale-Dienste-Gesetz took effect, designating KommAustria as Austria's Digital Services Coordinator under Art. 49/55 DSA and simultaneously repealing the national Communication Platforms Act (KoPl-G). EU-wide DSA obligations also became fully applicable from this date.
RTR / KommAustria ↗Austria's DSA accompanying legislation (BGBl. I Nr. 182/2023) was promulgated, enacting the KDD-G and amending the KommAustria Act, the E-Commerce Act and the Telecommunications Act to align national law with the EU Digital Services Act.
RIS (Federal Law Gazette) ↗In Google Ireland, Meta and TikTok v. KommAustria, the Court of Justice held that Austria could not impose general, abstract obligations on platforms established in other Member States, as this breached the country-of-origin principle of the E-Commerce Directive. The ruling fatally undermined the national KoPl-G.
Court of Justice of the EU ↗The EU adopted the DSA, the directly-applicable regulation that became the backbone of Austria's online content and safety framework, setting due-diligence, notice-and-action, transparency and risk-mitigation duties for intermediaries and very large platforms.
EUR-Lex (EU) ↗Austria's national anti-hate-speech law required large for-profit platforms (over 100,000 Austrian users or EUR 500,000 turnover) to provide reporting tools and remove manifestly illegal content within 24 hours, enforced by KommAustria with fines up to EUR 10 million. It was modelled on Germany's NetzDG.
RIS (Federal Law Gazette) ↗Amendments to Austria's Audiovisual Media Services Act and KommAustria Act transposed the revised EU AVMS Directive, for the first time placing video-sharing platforms (e.g. YouTube, TikTok) under KommAustria supervision for minor protection and bans on hate-inciting and dignity-violating content.
RTR / KommAustria ↗Austria's E-Commerce-Gesetz implemented EU Directive 2000/31/EC, establishing the foundational intermediary-liability and notice-and-takedown regime: host, access, caching and link providers are shielded from liability provided they act expeditiously to remove illegal content once aware of it.
RIS (Federal Law Gazette) ↗Austria - other topics
Last verified 5/23/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →