Dr. Shane Murphy:

I thank the Cathaoirleach, Deputies, and Senators for the opportunity to contribute to this discussion on the State’s response to online disinformation. As the committee has heard from many witnesses over the years, disinformation is a complex phenomenon. It can be difficult to understand and there are no easy solutions. Moreover, it is always worth remembering that, in a democratic society, disinformation is not illegal. Nevertheless, it clearly can be harmful and the State has a duty to minimise harm. In addition, non-State actors contribute significantly to this effort.

The Institute of Future Media, Democracy, and Society, FuJo, at Dublin City University co-ordinates a number of projects to understand the dynamics of disinformation and how to counter it. In particular, we co-ordinate the Ireland hub of the European Digital Media Observatory, EDMO, an EU-wide network of researchers, fact checkers, media literacy practitioners and data analysts. It must be noted, however, that this project is only part-funded, which limits its capacity. Nevertheless, the funding helps DCU monitor the EU code of practice on disinformation, research the effectiveness of countermeasures, and develop practical media literacy outputs. It also helps our partner TheJournal.ie develop its fact check team and expand its efforts to deliver reliable information to the public. Similarly, it helps our partner NewsWhip develop its media monitoring platform, which allows journalists, fact checkers and others to understand the flow and influence of information online.

There is great demand for the research, insights, and tools generated by projects like this. This is evident all across society as librarians, teachers, community organisations, businesses and journalists respond to concerns about disinformation and try to build societal awareness about bias and influence. Given the scope and depth of civil society actions, we suggest there is no shortage of expertise and good intentions in Ireland. What people often lack, however, is a solid evidence base to inform their work. It is essential that responses to disinformation are grounded in evidence, but this is challenging because the online environment is always evolving. The rapid mainstreaming of generative AI is evidence of this, but so too is the change in content policies at companies like X.

To support both the State and the civil society response to disinformation, we believe two kinds of evidence are needed. First, we need objective evidence of online media trends and practices. There is currently no regular and reliable source of information about media trends. That means there is only a partial understanding of what kinds of media platforms and figures are influential among different groups in Ireland. To give one example, the extreme misogynist Andrew Tate was a well-established figure in the media diets of Irish young people long before he came to the awareness of most parents and teachers via mainstream media. It should also be obvious that efforts to counter disinformation and build media literacy are greatly limited if we do not know what media people are consuming. Second, we need research on the effectiveness of disinformation countermeasures. Research on disinformation countermeasures is in its infancy. Consequently, public officials, journalists, and others often do not have good insights on how best to communicate accurate information to different groups. It is a mistake to assume there is a one-size-fits-all solution to communicating good information. Relatedly, there is a need for research on how to integrate media literacy and so-called pre-bunking techniques into communication practices.

We note that there are important new legislative structures in the EU and Ireland to address disinformation and related harms, most notably the Digital Services Act, which will be mainly implemented by Coimisiún na Meán. These structures, we are told, create a new paradigm for digital platforms. Time will tell if that is true. It is already telling that civil society has responded so vigorously to the onslaught of harms emanating from online platforms. Civic-minded people and organisations across the country are putting out digital fires. It is the job of politicians and regulators to ensure that burden is also shouldered by the platforms that have played an outsized role in creating these problems.