Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Well-established democracies around the world are struggling to deal with the issue of fake news. Part of the problem is that online political advertisements that are misleading or malicious can be purchased on social media platforms by third parties and targeted at specific audiences to maximise the damage that such misinformation can cause. In December 2017, following consideration of Deputy Lawless's Online Advertising and Social Media (Transparency) Bill, the Government established an interdepartmental group to consider the substantive issue of social media use by external, anonymous or hidden third parties.

A report published in July 2018 recognised the need to regulate political advertising. A public consultation closed in mid-October of last year. In December last year, the Government held an open policy forum on the regulation of online political advertising and finally, on 15 November of this year, the Government published proposals to regulate the transparency of online political advertising. The full report had not yet been published but the announcement is that a new law will be brought in to ensure elections held in this jurisdiction are free and fair and that they respect freedom of expression and access to legitimate and truthful information. We were promised that online political advertisements will be clearly identified as such.

The Taoiseach previously said that he had mixed feelings about the decision of Twitter to ban political advertising in response to the problem of misinformation. Last year, in a biography, it was claimed that he floated the idea of creating an anonymous social media account to comment positively on news. That might never have happened. Undoubtedly, the Taoiseach is well aware of the capacity of how social media can be gamed for political benefit.

I want to know whether the Government is serious about the announcement that online political advertising in this State will be regulated. He holds all the power in respect of whether that happens. He has the unique power of Taoiseach in being able to call and fix a date for a general election. He is also in charge of the Government's legislative programme. My question is simple and straightforward. Will the Government, and will the Taoiseach today, commit to having legislation in place to regulate online political advertising to ensure that this new law is fully in force in time for our next general election?

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