Mr. Seamus Hempenstall:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and the embers of the committee for the invitation to discuss with them the State's response to online disinformation and media literacy. I am joined by my departmental colleague Mr. Paul Kilkenny. Mr. Kilkenny and I, with our colleagues Kevin and Eve in the unit I head up, act as secretariat to the national counter-disinformation strategy working group, which is chaired by Ms Chapman and has Dr. Culloty as a member, both of whom are with us today. The group was established, as I am sure members are aware, in fulfilment of a recommendation of the Future of Media Commission. The commission recognised that while disinformation has been with us for centuries, the advent of new technologies such as social media means that it can spread further and faster than ever before. It can be harder to recognise and more damaging in its effects. The latter makes it more complex to deal with and means that no single approach can solve it. This is probably the most important reason for developing the strategy - to bring together the key stakeholders across Government, industry, academia and civil society to develop a more co-ordinated and strategic approach that aims to reduce the creation and spread of this false and harmful material and help combat its damaging effects.

The working group has been in operation since February 2023. We are in the final stages of its work. I acknowledge with thanks the significant work of every member of our multi-stakeholder working group for their valuable contributions.

In terms of developing the strategy, the group comprises stakeholders from Departments and a range of other representative bodies: Technology Ireland; the National Youth Council of Ireland; Coimisiún na Meán, our independent media regulator; An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission; the Library Association; the Irish Council for Civil Liberties; Media Literacy Ireland; Webwise; the Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society; and the Press Ombudsman. The group has heard from a range of national and international experts and practitioners in the field of disinformation. The group conducted a public consultation process and held a stakeholder consultation event. It has been a very worthwhile exercise, and we look forward to the publication of the strategy.

As regards the content, the strategy takes a rights-based approach based on five principles. The first of these is protecting freedom of expression, which is fundamental to combating disinformation. The others are building resilience through education and media literacy, supporting quality journalism and the provision of reliable public interest information, regulatory enforcement, and research on what does and does not work in combating this complex problem. What is Ireland doing? We are using a range of approaches. Education, including through media literacy initiatives, is key.

Coimisiún na Meán, as our new media and online safety regulator, is and will be critical in ensuring that regulations like the Digital Services Act are fairly and fully implemented. Supporting public service media though initiatives like the media fund is vital to protect information integrity. We also need to keep learning and researching both the sources and impacts of disinformation if we are to keep pace and keep combatting it effectively.

My colleagues here will be able to discuss particular aspects of the fight against disinformation. I will be happy to answer questions relating to the strategy process itself.