Mr. Art O'Leary:

There are a couple of sides to that particular question. We are fortunate that this organisation did not exist before because we now have an opportunity to build something from scratch that suits the modern environment in which we live. We are building an organisation that can be responsive, flexible and clearly attuned to what is going on in the digital space. That is not something many State bodies are often accused of but because we are brand new, we can build a culture that can deliver on those kinds of requirements.

The second point the Cathaoirleach made is an interesting one. The suggestion from some of the experts in this area is not to obsess over individual posts or tweets or posts on any of the Meta platforms but to watch for trends, bot activity or thousands of actors in this space, which is the stuff you need to deal with. There are many tools at our disposal here. There is the issue about transparent, clear, factual information. People need to see that An Coimisiún Toghcháin is a trusted source for information so that if they see anything slightly concerning and they do not know whether it is true or not, they would come to us and we would be able to provide some clarity. There is lots of that. There have been ads recently from Coimisiún na Meán and news brands about their "stop and consider" campaign. The Swedes have a particular campaign at the moment which basically says that if it makes you angry, it is probably fake. That probably would not work in this country but some type of "stop and think" or "stop and consider" campaign is likely to be the most effective option as we educate people and inform them about where their trusted sources of information are.