The Communication Platforms Act, which went into effect in October 2020, requires online social media platforms with more than 100,000 users in Austria and annual revenue of at least Eur 500 million (approximately USD 560 million) in Austria to establish a complaints department with a streamlined procedure for managing hate speech posts. The law applies to a catalogue of 15 criminal offenses, including hate speech, coercion, stalking and the degradation of religious teachings. Platforms must provide a reporting function for this illegal content and react immediately to notifications. If the content is obviously illegal for legal laypersons, it must be blocked within 24 hours after the notification. If the illegality is not that obvious, the platform can take a maximum of 7 days to respond.The law allows individuals to sue in court to compel platforms to immediately delete content ruled as hate speech. Media platforms and communication forums that are “directly linked to journalistic activity” are exempt from the new law. Online information services, such as Wikipedia and online retail services are also exempt.

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbor. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
Safe harbors for intermediaries of the e-Commerce Directive are incorporated into Austrian national law by the e-Commerce-Act. Section V of the legislation provides for an exclusion from the liability regime, under certain circumstances, for:
- Mere access providers (Section 13).
- Search engine services (Section 14).
- Caching providers (Section 15).
- Hosting providers (Section 16).
- Link providers (Section 17).

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbor. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
Safe harbors for intermediaries of the e-Commerce Directive are incorporated into Austrian national law by the e-Commerce-Act. Section V of the legislation provides for an exclusion from the liability regime, under certain circumstances, for:
- Mere access providers (Section 13).
- Search engine services (Section 14).
- Caching providers (Section 15).
- Hosting providers (Section 16).
- Link providers (Section 17).

According to the Ordinance of the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology on the procedures for identifying participants (Federal Law Bulletin II No. 7/2019), all mobile value cards in Austria must be registered. It is mandatory to register the following data: first name, last name, academic degree and date of birth. Customers can register in person with their mobile operator, for which an official ID is necessary. It is also possible to register online which requires the customer to take a photo of themselves and their ID. Holders of an Austrian bank account can also register via said account. Companies must register through an authorized representative who must submit a suitable document from the company register.

It is reported that the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Austria's main telecommunications provider is Telekom Austria AG. It is reported that 28.42% of the shares of Telekom Austria AG are owned by ÖBAG. ÖBAG is short for Österreichische Beteiligungs AG (Austrian Holding Corporation), which is a state-owned company wholly owned by the Austrian government that is responsible for managing state holdings in various strategic companies in the country.

It is reported that Austria mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

The Directive 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) is key in harmonising national laws concerning trade secrets. In Austria, the Directive has been transposed by the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) amendment of 2018, amending the Federal Act Against Unfair Competition 1984, the Code of Civil Procedure, and the Consumer Authorities Cooperation Act.

Passive sharing is mandated and is effective in both the mobile and fixed sectors. Access to passive infrastructure is possible based on Telecommunications Act 2003. According to Art 8 of the Act, owners or other authorised users of an antenna mast or a high-voltage mast must permit providers of a public communications network, fire brigades, rescue services as well as police authorities the joint use if this is economically reasonable and technically feasible, in particular in terms of frequencies. The owner or other authorised user shall perform technical modifications required for this purpose or have them performed if the modifications are slight and the person seeking joint use pays the costs. The right of joint use shall also include joint use of the infrastructure necessary for operation. The owner or other authorised user must not use his power of disposal of the system to the disadvantage of the joint user. On the other hand, infrastructure sharing is practiced in Austria in the mobile sector only in terms of site sharing and national roaming.
In addition, Art. 3.2 of the Directive 2014/61/EU establishes that Member States shall ensure that, upon written request of an undertaking providing or authorised to provide public communications networks, any network operator has the obligation to meet all reasonable requests for access to its physical infrastructure under fair and reasonable terms and conditions, including price, with a view to deploying elements of high-speed electronic communications networks. Such written request shall specify the elements of the project for which the access is requested, including a specific time frame.

Austria has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Austria has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Austria is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

There is no general principle for the use of copyright protected material comparable to the fair use/fair dealing principles. Directive 2001/29/EC defines an optional, but exhaustive set of limitations from the author´s exclusive rights under the control of the “three-step test” in line with the Berne Convention that establishes three cumulative conditions to the limitations and exceptions of a copyright holder’s rights. The Directive has been transposed by Member States with significant freedom. In Austria, the Copyright Law provides for exceptions or limitations to the reproduction right provided in some listed cases, in line with Directive 2001/29/EC. Exemptions provided in Art. 41 to 56 Austrian Copyright Law are, mainly, the following:
- Temporary reproduction;
- Reproduction for personal and private use;
- Reproduction for reporting of current events.
- Reproduction in favour of disabled people.
- Use of works as insignificant accessories.
- Quotation.
- Use of protected work for educational and scientific purposes.
- Fair free use of works of literature, music, fine arts.
- Non-commercial Use of picture or sound carriers and broadcasts in certain businesses.
- Use of image or sound carriers to certain federal agencies.
- Reproduction and use of protected works by libraries and museums.
- Public reproduction in accommodation establishments.

According to Art. 43 of the Patent Act 1970, applications for patents are subject to formal and substantive examination by the Patent Office. Moreover, according to Art. 21, anyone who has neither domicile nor branch office in Austria can only assert rights under this Federal Act before the Patent Office if they are represented by a party representative listed in Section 77 (Only lawyers, patent attorneys, and notaries, as well as the financial procuratorate, are authorized to represent parties professionally before the Patent Office.). If the place of residence or branch is in the EEA or in the Swiss Confederation, however, the appointment of an authorized recipient resident in Switzerland is sufficient for the assertion of rights under this federal act. The requirement of the main residence in Austria does not apply to citizens of EEA contracting states, if service is ensured by international treaties with the contracting state of the domicile of the authorized recipient or in another way.

Under the Regulation 2019/452, Member States may maintain their existing investments screening mechanisms (21 Member States currently do), adopt new ones or remain without such national mechanisms. The Commission keeps an up-to-date list of screening laws in the EU. Member States must notify the Commission who may issue an opinion when an investment threatens the security or public order of more than one Member State, or when an investment could undermine a strategic project or programme of interest to the whole EU, such as Horizon 2020 or Galileo. The final decision remains with the Member State.
In Austria, a screening mechanism was first introduced with Section 25a of Foreign Trade Act 2011. The Act has been replaced in July 2020 by the Foreign Direct Investment Screening Act, which provides different scenarios where screening applies. Main relevant scenarios triggering the screening are, under certain circumstances, as follows:
- Acquisition of 10% or more of voting rights in the company, when related to the following digital sensitive sectors: defence equipment / defence technology; critical energy infrastructure; critical digital infrastructure (in particular 5G infrastructure); systems that enable data sovereignty of the Republic of Austria;
- Establishment of a new branch in Austria if an Austrian undertaking is acquired by a foreign entity and the relevant thresholds are met;
- Establishment of a new company in which foreign investor will have more than 10% voting rights.
The Foreign Direct Investment Screening Act provides that some transactions are exempt from the approval requirement where the target is a very small undertaking with less than ten employees and an annual turnover or annual balance of no more than 2 million euros.