s 26 Liability of network service providers
26.—(1) Subject to subsection (3), a network service provider shall not be subject to any civil or criminal liability under any rule of law in respect of third‑party material in the form of electronic records to which the network service provider merely provides access if such liability is founded on —(a) the making, publication, dissemination or distribution of such materials or any statement made in such material; or (b) the infringement of any rights subsisting in or in relation to such material. (2) Subject to subsection (3), a network service provider shall not be subject to any liability under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 in respect of third‑party material in the form of electronic records to which the network service provider merely provides access.[26/2012] (3) Nothing in this section affects —(a) any obligation founded on contract; (b) the obligation of a network service provider as such under a licensing or other regulatory regime established under any written law; (c) any obligation imposed under any written law or by a court to remove, block or deny access to any material; or (d) any liability of a network service provider under the Copyright Act 2021 in respect of a rights infringement as defined by section 97 of that Act.[22/2021] (3A) To avoid doubt, subsection (1) does not apply in relation to any liability under section 45E, 45F or 45N of the Broadcasting Act 1994.[Act 38 of 2022 wef 01/02/2023] (4) In this section —“provides access”, in relation to third-party material, means the provision of the necessary technical means by which third‑party material may be accessed and includes the automatic and temporary storage of the third-party material for the purpose of providing access; “third-party”, in relation to a network service provider, means a person over whom the provider has no effective control.[22/2021]