Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Yes, and that is why it is good we are leaving the era of self-regulation. Coimisiún na Meán is now in place. This committee did great work on the relevant Bill before it was enacted. I met with Coimisiún na Meán approximately ten days before the riots to see where it was in regard to the online codes. When those codes are officially put in place, we will have real powers of enforcement. Last week, when we saw what was happening in Dublin, there was engagement again. Although Coimisiún na Meán does not have the powers of enforcement just yet, following the horrific incident outside the school, it made immediate contact with the four main platforms, that is, TikTok, Google, Meta and X, formerly Twitter, to raise its concerns not only about the spread of possibly graphic images and videos of that awful assault but also its concerns about what might subsequently happen. The commission was very much on top of it. The platforms responded early Thursday evening and informed an coimisiún that they had activated their instant response mechanisms. On Friday, Coimisiún na Meán met with representatives of the platforms, along with representatives of the European Commission, and it also met with An Garda Síochána. Yesterday, I met with the main commissioners, namely, the chief executive, the online safety commissioner and the digital services commissioner, to discuss again the concerns around the role of social media in fomenting that unrest. They updated me that they will continue to engage with the platforms and with the European Commission over the coming days.

For now, until the online codes are in place, the advice from an coimisiún is that people should report any extremist hate speech, threats or intimidatory content to the platforms and to An Garda Síochána. I support an coimisiún in that. As we go forward, the difference is that the online safety codes will, we hope, be in place in February. Incredible work has been done by the online safety commissioner, Niamh Hodnett, in the period since an coimisiún was set up in March. I expect to see the draft codes very shortly. Once they are in place, we will have the enforcement powers and that will be a game-changer.