Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Táim ag smaoineamh orthu siúd a gortaíodh san fhoiréigean ar an Déardaoin seo caite i gCearnóg Parnell agus orthu siúd go léir a ndeachaigh na himeachtaí le déanaí i bhfeidhm orthu. My thoughts are with all those injured in the violent attack last week. I thank the first responders and An Garda Síochána for their swift response and bravery. Their actions and the actions of the individuals who intervened to stop the assailant reflect the true values of who we are as a nation. Concerning last Thursday evening's events in the city, a Garda investigation is underway into the role of far-right online agitators. It will engage as necessary with online services. The Government is addressing extremist content online like hate speech and incitement to violence. Coimisiún na Meán is Ireland's new online safety and media regulator. It will be joint regulator with the European Commission for the EU Digital Services Act. My Department has ongoing engagement with an coimisiún. I met its representatives two weeks ago and again yesterday for an update on last week's events. They informed me they had engaged immediately with the large platforms, the Garda and the European Commission and that the platforms had activated their instant response plans. Engagement is continuing.

An coimisiún is calling for those who see hate speech or other illegal content online to report it to the platforms or An Garda Síochána. This is important and will be even moreso next year because once an coimisiún is fully operational, people will be able to report to it directly if they think a platform has ignored or wrongly rejected their complaint. These reports can then be used by Coimisiún na Meán to decide where to focus its oversight and investigations and, ultimately, its enforcement action.

An coimisiún's first online safety code as provided for under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 will be adopted in early 2024. A draft code will be published very shortly for stakeholder consultation. This will hold the video-sharing platforms accountable for how they protect their users online and will deal with extremist content like hate speech and incitement to violence. This is a new era in which regulators and the people they serve will be empowered to make the online world safer for all.

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