Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Coimisiún na Meán for its presentations. Obviously it is a new organisation so is finding its feet and beginning to implement its aims and objectives. I wish Coimisiún na Meán well with that, backed up by the Digital Services Act and several other pieces of legislation. It has applied for new staff so presumably that will be forthcoming.

I will focus on disinformation which is our main brief in the context of the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament. As the witnesses mentioned, Dr. Eileen Culloty from DCU was before the committee as was the Electoral Commission and European Movement Ireland. Dr. Culloty spoke about foreign information, manipulation and interference, and domestic information manipulation. Has Coimisiún na Meán come across either in an Irish context, having regard to these two types of disinformation? Has Coimisiún na Meán had any complaints yet with regard to its brief? Is it open for complaints and what kinds of complaints is it receiving?

Dr. Culloty also spoke about the need to monitor ongoing narratives, platforms and actors. I am a bit pessimistic, to be honest. Like Deputy Howlin, I think the more we go into this, the more hopeless it seems. That is not to discourage the witnesses. I take on board what they have said. At least we have some sort of structure in place to deal with these matters.

Does Coimisiún na Meán have any role in fact-checking? I know journalists and NGOs can do that but it is quite a big undertaking. We have dealt with the need for speed, the time it takes to implement effective action and the need for a rapid response. I would be quite negative about that as well.

I have a specific question about the riots that took place in Dublin last November. There were the awful stabbings in Parnell Square but it is clear that social media platforms were utilised to spread far right hatred, disinformation and intolerance at that particular time. I read somewhere that Ireland was the first EU member state to activate the EU Digital Services Act protocol. Will the witness say something about that specific incident? It brings it home to us because that was a real case in point for Ireland as those riots took place and the role played by social media in that. Coimisiún na Meán is a relatively new organisation and maybe the Digital Services Act had not even been passed by the Oireachtas then but will the witnesses tell us about its interaction with the European Commission at that particular time?