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

I do not propose to accept the amendment. I note the intent of the amendment but this matter will primarily be addressed by my colleague, the Tánaiste, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in the context of the legislation necessary to give effect to the implementation of the DSA in Ireland. It would not be useful to cut across that work at this stage. Members will be aware that in March the Government decided that coimisiún na meán, when established by this Bill, will act as the primary regulator, termed the digital services co-ordinator, DSC, under the DSA. Government made this decision in light of the clear synergies between the objectives and approaches of coimisiún na meán and the DSC, including taking a systemic approach to dealing with online safety and platform regulation and similar resourcing needs and expertise for implementation and enforcement.

Disinformation and false information are being tackled on an EU-wide basis, not just through the DSA but also through the European Commission’s code of practice on disinformation. This is a Commission initiative, which has involved a range of online platforms, leading social networks, advertisers and advertising industry players to sign up to self-regulatory standards to fight disinformation. The Commission intends that the code will evolve into a co-regulatory instrument under the Digital Services Act. Clearly, an coimisiún, as the DSC, would have an important role to play in that context. In addition, the Commission has established the European Digital Media Observatory, including a hub in Dublin City University, DCU, which has been tasked with monitoring the implementation of the code. At national level, as the Deputy referenced, the Future of Media Commission recommended the creation of a national counter disinformation strategy. A working group is being set up in my Department to start work on this and to give effect to that recommendation.