Schedule 4: Codes of practice under section 41: principles, objectives, content Chapter 7: Interpretation of Part 3 Section 58: Restricting users’ access to content
This section clarifies the meaning of the expression "restricting users’ access to content" for the purposes of Part 3 of the Act, including in relation to the content of democratic importance, journalistic content and news publisher protections (sections 17 to 19). The expression is also used in Part 4 of the Act, in the transparency, accountability and freedom of expression duties (sections 71 and 72), where it has the same meaning as here (see section 74(4)).
	Subsection (2) makes clear that the expression covers cases where a provider prevents a user from accessing content without that user taking a prior step (such as clicking past a warning notice), or where content is temporarily hidden from a user.
	Subsection (3) further clarifies that this expression does not cover any restrictions on a user’s access to content resulting from the user voluntarily activating any feature of a service (such as activating user empowerment tools), or cases where access to content is controlled by another user rather than by the provider.