Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 107:

In page 83, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “(e) that all measures taken under paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) shall provide the same protections for users of Irish language content as are provided to users of English language content, and that no service provider shall deny a platform to Irish language content unless for a reason under which content in the English language would be denied platform, such as in the case of harmful or age-inappropriate online content.”.

The amendment states that all measures taken under paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) shall provide the same protections for users of Irish language content as are provided to users of English language content, and that no service provider shall deny a platform to Irish language content unless for a reason under which content in the English language would be denied platform, such as in the case of harmful or age-inappropriate online content. Content should be denied a platform for reasons such as age-inappropriate or harmful material, but not simply because it is in Irish.

An issue arose with Google in recent years where the excuse given was that it could not moderate content in Irish. They could not guarantee that it would not be harmful and, therefore, they banned advertisements in Irish. The irony of that strikes me shockingly given the number of people I know, and I am sure in the wider community, who use Google Translate on a regular basis.

The amendment would ensure that where social media companies engage in content moderation, that also extends to the moderation of the Irish content. It would create a dual effect of not only protecting young and vulnerable Irish speakers, in particular, from online abuse, but also doing away with the excuse from wealthy companies that benefit from our generous tax regime that they cannot host Irish language content or advertisements because they do not have the resources to ensure the content meets their own standards.

This is a case of large corporations choosing to censor advertisements and other content in the Irish language over free speech and language rights of Irish speakers. That should not be allowed in a bilingual state trying to promote Irish.

If the content is inappropriate or contrary to the host's code of conduct, one should ban it but one should not ban it simply because it is in the Irish language and the host does not have the moderators to ensure that it meets its standards.

We live in an online world. Most people's social life has some form of other language included in it. It is shameful to see that being denied to Irish speakers. The amendment would ensure that comes to a halt. I reiterate the irony of that one particular company that promotes an online translation service not being in a position to moderate its own content in the Irish language.