Internet & Online Safety · Gibraltar
Online safety & content laws in Gibraltar (2026)
Gibraltar shaded by its internet & online safety status
Online safety rules in Gibraltar: partial, under Crimes and Communications (Online Safety) Act 2023 (criminal online-harm offences + GRA media-literacy duty), alongside the Communications Act 2006 and Broadcasting Act 2012, all overseen by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA). No EU DSA / UK OSA-style platform duty-of-care or mandatory age-verification regime..
Gibraltar regulates online safety primarily through targeted criminal offences rather than a comprehensive platform-liability framework. The Crimes and Communications (Online Safety) Act 2023 (in force 19 July 2023) created new offences such as cyberflashing, sending flashing images to induce epileptic seizures, and possession of extreme pornography, and imposed a media-literacy duty on the GRA. Broader electronic-communications and broadcasting/audiovisual content are regulated under the Communications Act 2006 and Broadcasting Act 2012, but Gibraltar has not adopted a systemic platform duty-of-care or statutory age-verification regime comparable to the UK Online Safety Act or EU Digital Services Act.
Key points
The Crimes and Communications (Online Safety) Act 2023 created offences for cyberflashing (unsolicited sending of sexual images), intentionally sending flashing images to a person with epilepsy to cause a seizure, and possession of extreme pornography. It is offence-focused rather than a platform-regulation regime.
Parliament passed the Act on 19 July 2023; the Bill had earlier been published the same year (press release 188/2023). It enhances protection in social-media spaces by criminalising specific online harms.
The 2023 Act placed a new statutory duty on the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority to promote media literacy and public understanding of online content, complementing existing media-literacy functions under the Communications and Broadcasting Acts.
Unlike the UK Online Safety Act 2023 or the EU Digital Services Act, Gibraltar's legislation does not impose systemic duty-of-care obligations on platforms, content-moderation/risk-assessment requirements, or a mandatory age-verification regime.
Under the Communications Act 2006 the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority regulates the electronic-communications sector (fixed/mobile, internet, VoIP, broadcasting) and radio spectrum, and promotes public awareness of material on electronic media.
The Broadcasting Act 2012, incorporating the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2011 (transposing EU Directive 2010/13/EU), gives the GRA powers over broadcasting standards, licensing and codes of practice for audiovisual content.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Gibraltar's Parliament amended the Broadcasting Act 2012, updating the regulatory framework for licensed media service providers (radio, TV and on-demand) overseen by the GRA. Reflects ongoing modernisation of broadcast/online-content oversight.
Parliament of Gibraltar ↗The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority released findings from a 6,240-respondent survey showing nearly 40% of adults felt unable to spot online misinformation and that 78% of children aged 10-17 spend 3+ hours daily on social media, shaping its media-literacy and online-harms work.
Gibraltar Regulatory Authority ↗The Crimes and Communications (Online Safety) Act took effect and the GRA's statutory responsibility to promote media literacy and public awareness of online content risks formally commenced on 27 July 2023.
Gibraltar Regulatory Authority ↗Parliament approved new criminal offences targeting online harms (including in social-media spaces) and aligned extreme-pornography law with the UK, while imposing a new media-literacy duty on the GRA, Gibraltar's first dedicated online-safety statute.
HM Government of Gibraltar ↗Following stakeholder consultation including the GRA, the Justice Minister published the Online Safety Bill to create specific offences for serious online acts and strengthen protection of the public from online harms.
HM Government of Gibraltar ↗After the Brexit transition period, the EU GDPR was superseded by the domestic Gibraltar GDPR, supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2004, with the GRA acting as Information Commissioner and supervisory authority over data and online privacy.
Gibraltar Regulatory Authority ↗As an EU territory at the time, Gibraltar applied the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) from 25 May 2018, establishing the modern data-protection baseline that governs online personal-data handling.
Gibraltar Regulatory Authority ↗Parliament passed the Broadcasting Act 2012, giving the GRA powers to license and regulate media service providers, including on-demand services, and to set broadcasting standards, codes of practice and promote media literacy.
GBC ↗Passed to transpose EU electronic-communications directives (resolving Commission infringement proceedings), the Act established the framework for regulating telecoms, internet and broadcasting transmission under the GRA, the backbone of Gibraltar's electronic-media oversight.
Laws of Gibraltar ↗Gibraltar implemented EU ePrivacy rules governing privacy and personal data in electronic communications (cookies, traffic data, direct marketing), complementing the Communications Act's online-services regime.
Laws of Gibraltar ↗Established Gibraltar's first comprehensive data-protection regime and supervisory enforcement structure, later retained as domestic law supplementing the Gibraltar GDPR.
Laws of Gibraltar ↗Transposed the EU E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) into Gibraltar law, setting rules for information-society services and intermediary liability, the foundational legal basis for regulating online services.
Laws of Gibraltar ↗The GRA was created under the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority Act 2000 as the statutory body regulating electronic communications, broadcasting and (later) data protection, the institution that anchors today's online-content and safety framework.
Gibraltar Regulatory Authority ↗Gibraltar - other topics
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