This guide focuses on how a removal decision works on the publisher’s side: which clock starts running for whom when the decision arrives, and which duties continue after removal. The complete article-by-article table of periods in Law No. 5651 is set out in the access blocking deadlines guide.
The critical period: four hours
Article 9/A(3) of Law No. 5651: “The President shall immediately notify the Union of that request for implementation; access providers shall comply with that request for a measure immediately and within four hours at the latest.”
That period is directed at access providers. For a publisher acting as a content or hosting provider the Law fixes no separate clock, but the publisher must give effect to a decision once it is served on them.
The other periods
| Step | Period | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Access providers implement the measure | Immediately, within 4 hours at the latest | Art. 9/A(3) |
| The applicant submits the request to the criminal judge of peace | 24 hours from the request | Art. 9/A(5) |
| The judge decides | Within 48 hours at the latest | Art. 9/A(5) |
| If not submitted or not decided | The measure lapses of its own motion | Art. 9/A(5) |
| Where the content has been removed from publication | The judge’s decision lapses of its own motion | Art. 9/A(7) |
Removal does not end the obligation
This is the point publishers most often miss. Removing the content does not extinguish the duty to publish a correction and reply; it intensifies it.
The sentence added to Article 14 of Law No. 5187 by Law No. 7418: “Where a decision to block access to and/or remove the content of a publication is implemented, or where the content is removed by the online news site of its own motion, the correction and reply text shall be published on the online news site on which the relevant publication was made, on the home page for the first twenty-four hours and for a period of one week.”
| What the publisher did | The continuing obligation |
|---|---|
| Removed the content | The reply text on the home page for 24 hours, on the site for one week |
| Access was blocked | The same |
| Did nothing | The reply text on the item’s page, with a URL link, within one day |
When does the clock start on the publisher’s side?
Periods run from the moment the decision is served. Keeping the channel for service operative is therefore a legal requirement. Article 4 of Law No. 5187 obliges online news sites to show, under a heading “Contact” accessible from the home page, the business address, trade name, electronic mail address, telephone number, registered electronic mail (KEP) address and the name and address of the hosting provider.
Article 29 of Law No. 5187 adds: “The place of management of a periodical shall be deemed, for the purposes of service, the domicile of the owner of the publication and of their representative and, for so long as they remain in office, of the responsible editor.”
What to do when a decision arrives
- Record the date and time of service of the decision.
- Read its scope: is it URL-based, does it cover the whole site, on what provision does it rest?
- Comply with it and record the moment of implementation.
- Keep an archive copy of the content — it will be needed for any objection or later dispute.
- If a correction and reply request has also arrived, run that timetable separately (one day for an online news site).
- If you removed the content, plan to keep the reply text on the home page for 24 hours.
- Assess the route and period for challenging the decision with your lawyer.
Updating rather than removing
Not every request calls for removal. Where part of a report is inaccurate, or the process has moved on (a decision not to prosecute, an acquittal), adding an update note is often the better journalistic decision and evidences good faith. We deal with that approach in the archive guide.
The routes available to the person concerned are set out in the removal routes guide.