Article 18 Notification of suspicions of criminal offences

A provider of hosting services may in some instances become aware, such as through a notice by a notifying party or through its own voluntary measures, of information relating to certain activity of a recipient of the service, such as the provision of certain types of illegal content, that reasonably justify, having regard to all relevant circumstances of which the provider of hosting services is aware, the suspicion that that recipient may have committed, may be committing or is likely to commit a criminal offence involving a threat to the life or safety of person or persons, such as offences specified in Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(²⁷), Directive 2011/93/EU or Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council(²⁸). For example, specific items of content could give rise to a suspicion of a threat to the public, such as incitement to terrorism within the meaning of Article 21 of Directive (EU) 2017/541. In such instances, the provider of hosting services should inform without delay the competent law enforcement authorities of such suspicion. The provider of hosting services should provide all relevant information available to it, including, where relevant, the content in question and, if available, the time when the content was published, including the designated time zone, an explanation of its suspicion and the information necessary to locate and identify the relevant recipient of the service. This Regulation does not provide the legal basis for profiling of recipients of the services with a view to the possible identification of criminal offences by providers of hosting services. Providers of hosting services should also respect other applicable rules of Union or national law for the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals when informing law enforcement authorities.