Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I wish to raise what I think everyone recognises as a growing threat to society, namely online disinformation and, more importantly, the urgent needs around how we promote and resource media literacy initiatives to counter it.

We are all aware of the alarming rise in the weaponisation of false information online. It is no longer just a nuisance. It is being used to distort truth, polarise communities and threaten our public safety. We have seen it play out in real time, most recently in light of the Dublin riots that devastated part of the city. Many of these events were fuelled by online ecosystems suggesting and spreading falsehoods.

A 2023 study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue revealed that between 2020 and 2023, over 13 million disinformation posts were detected across 1,600 accounts in Ireland alone. Shockingly just ten of those accounts were responsible for 14% of that content. The drivers of that content were typically far-right groups and individuals pushing narratives on Covid-19 denial, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, misogyny and electoral distrust and distrust in democratic institutions. Another study from DCU found that there are examples of social media platforms rapidly amplifying this harmful content. Male-identified accounts created as part of this experiment were fed misogynistic and white-supremacist material within just 23 minutes of use. Once they were exposed, the algorithms in the cases of some platforms continued to recommend similar content.

It is not just a concern shared by policymakers: it is one also shared by the public. The Digital News Report Ireland 2024 found that 64% or almost two in three people worry about distinguishing real content from fake online content. This is higher than the European average of 50%. During the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions, almost half of Irish citizens encountered misleading information about the virus in just one week.

Ireland did rank fifth in the media literacy index in 2022 but we have seen a 5% drop in the basic information and data literacy skills since 2023. This is a dangerous decline, especially for people who rely on messaging apps and social media platforms for their news. Research shows they are significantly more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. This is brought to life by the recent report by the Electoral Commission on the permeation of conspiracy theories. Some 35% of people surveyed for that report believe a small, secret group controls world politics but this number is a lot higher for those who rely on online media where 58% of those people believe in this theory compared with 23% of people who use traditional media.

The Government has taken steps. The introduction of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 establishing Coimisiún na Meán as our new online safety regulator is a welcome step in that it brings into force parts of the EU Digital Services Act. The launch of the national counter disinformation strategy in 2025, built on five core principles, has also been extremely important in doing that. Coimisiún na Meán has started leading with the implementation of binding safety rules for social media platforms targeting harmful content and requiring platforms to enforce age checks, parental controls and media literacy tools. However, I fear we have arrived at a point where legislation alone and nor is enforcement of community guidelines alone. It is about empowering the public, young and old, with the skills to critically evaluate the information they consume. Media literacy is no longer optional. It is now a democratic necessity. We need to embed media literacy into our education systems making it a mandatory part of both primary and secondary curriculums. We need to fund lifelong digital skills programmes and prioritise vulnerable groups often excluded form digital education. A resilient society like this is an informed one. We must also continue to support and fund verified fact-checked journalism, which is often the first casualty of disinformation and the last line of defence against it. This is all pivotal to defending our democracy.

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