Ms Celene Craig:

The Senator is making a very important point. The scale of what is envisaged by the general scheme cannot be underestimated but, at the same time, it is breaking important new ground. A lot of concern has been expressed, understandably and justifiably, about the fact platforms are regulating themselves at the moment. The first point to make is that what this scheme envisages is that this era of self-regulation, insofar as the matters within the scope of the scheme are concerned, is over. The Minister would previously have made those comments when the scheme was introduced back in 2019, and that is important. What we are seeing now is a requirement for platforms to be accountable to an independent regulator for their activities as they are spelled out in the legislation. That is the first point.

The issue that has to be addressed, and this is the real challenge in moving from a broadcasting model of regulation to one which is overseeing online platforms, is that the scale of content we are dealing with is altogether of a different nature. This was central to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's thinking when it came to making its own proposals to Government in regard to the form that the regulation should take. What we want is an independent regulator that can ultimately take a view in regard to compliance or otherwise by a platform with the requirements of the legislation. However, it does not mean that a new regulator will be able to manage all of the complaints, and that is not what is envisaged by the scheme.

The real difference between the current regulatory regime and the future regulatory regime will be a reliance, to a large extent, on the platforms to actually take on board the requirements of the legislation and to ensure they implement those as fully and as carefully as they can. However, where another level of oversight comes in is in regard to the role of the media commission, which will take a view and set the basis upon which the online platforms are expected to behave, and through its online codes will be very clear about the matters with which the online platforms are obliged to comply. That might be not just in regard to the content but it might concern their policies, procedures and practices.

One of the procedures we would expect an online platform to make very clear is what are its own internal procedures for ensuring that such content is not present on its platform. That might include some element of machine learning, and we referred earlier to algorithmic activity. It will no doubt involve a certain level of internal human content moderation that might potentially have a number of stages and, indeed, even an appeal stage within the platform itself.

There is also potential, we believe, for independent bodies to perhaps participate in an independent dispute resolution mechanism. That is required, for example, under the audiovisual media services directive and we would certainly recommend that the regulator has a role in either overseeing or ensuring that those independent dispute resolution mechanisms are established and operate and function well. There is also provision in the statute for potential mediation.

We see that where the most egregious complaints are concerned or there are systemic problems with certain forms of content on the platform. Those can be taken directly to the media commission and the commission would be in a position to make determinations in respect of some of those matters. However, we have to be realistic. It is not envisaged that a media commission would deal with what could - on a Europe-wide basis in relation to, for example, the hate speech provisions of the directive - amount to thousands of complaints daily. That will not be practical or workable.

It will be important for the media commission to get the messaging right around what its role and function is. An important part of that is that, for the first time, video-sharing platforms and online platforms generally will be accountable to an independent regulator, who will be able to shine a light on their practices and performance in complying with the legislation. The day-to-day management of complaints will be a matter for the platforms, albeit the regulator will be able to take a view as to the adequacy of the systems and procedures they put in place and could make a determination where they need to move and the actions they are required to take to comply with the legislation.