The Minister of Communication and Informatics (“MOCI”) has finally issued MOCI Regulation No. 5 of 2020 on Electronic System Organizers (“ESO”) in the Private Sector (“MOCI Regulation 5/2020”) that serves as the new implementing regulation of Government Regulation No. 71 of 2019 on The Organization of Electronic Systems and Transactions (“GR 71/2019”) (together, the “ESO Regulations”), that revokes 2 (two) previous implementing regulations: MOCI Regulation No. 19 of 2014 on The Handling of Internet Websites Containing Negative Content and MOCI Regulation No. 36 of 2014 on The Procedure for the Registration of ESOs. MOCI Regulation 5/2020 was issued on 16 November 2020 and came into force on 24 November 2020.

MOCI Regulation 5/2020 has 7 chapters and an extensive scope covering, among others, the following areas:a. the registration obligations and procedures for private ESOs;b. the obligations and liabilities of private ESOs regarding the handling of prohibited electronic information and documents;c. requests for the termination or normalisation of access;d. access to electronic systems and electronic data for government authorities; ande. sanctions.

Transitional Provisions

All the private ESOs to which MOCI Regulation 5/2020 applies must register within 6 months of MOCI Regulation 5/2020 coming into force ie, by 24 May 2021.As MOCI Regulation 5/2020 is a relatively new regulation, the practical implementation of some its provisions by the MOCI has yet to be seen (eg whether any additional documents or technical requirements are needed to register and whether the MOCI system is ready to accept applications fromforeign private ESOs). Currently, we understand that the MOCI is still in the process of updating its system in order to be able to accommodate registrations of foreign private ESOs. Therefore, foreign private ESOs need to continue to monitor the MOCI’s policies and make sure that they comply with MOCI Regulation 5/2020.

Detailed explanation on each of the areas listed above is available in the full article which can be accessed through the link provided.