Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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As we know, the problem of disinformation is not a new one. What is new is how easily mistruths can be produced, how sophisticated and convincing they are, and how it can be amplified and circulated at astonishing speed.

According to the Digital News Report 2025 published just last month, 68% of people said that they are concerned about what is real and what is fake online. This is clear evidence of how important it is to counter disinformation.

The Future of Media Commission recognised this in its 2022 report and recommended that Ireland develop a national counter disinformation strategy to co-ordinate national efforts in the fight against disinformation, with the intention of limiting the creation and spreading of false, misleading and harmful material.

Disinformation is a serious challenge that requires whole-of-society response, the importance of which was recognised during the development of the national counter disinformation strategy. An independently chaired multistakeholder working group was established in February 2023 to develop the strategy and it was published on 17 April this year.

At national level, Ireland is already using a range of approaches to counter disinformation. The strategy aims to connect key stakeholders across multiple sectors, facilitating enhanced co-operation and collaboration in our efforts to counter disinformation. The strategy highlights education in particular as having an important role in giving people the skills to recognise false material and help to prevent its dissemination. Media and digital literacy initiatives should be seen alongside the promotion of public interest information in this regard. Crucially, the provision of media literacy education for everyone in our society will help to ensure that we are collectively resilient to the threats posed by this kind of manipulation to our democracy.

One such example is the Be Media Smart campaign led by Media Literacy Ireland, which encourages people to stop, think and check that the information they are consuming is reliable. The Sound and Vision 4 scheme is a notable source of funding for media literacy initiatives across television and radio. A total of €7 million has been awarded under the scheme so far this year for television and radio projects, with media literacy initiatives featuring amongst the funded projects. These range from documentaries about misinformation to local programming Irish-language programmes that set out to boost media literacy skills. Some notable examples include Beat 102-103 Digital Media and You; Virgin Media Television’s "Borders & Lies"; TG4’s "Am Abú"; and Newstalk’s "Ctrl Shift Save - Life in a Digital Age". Further funding awards under the Sound and Vision 4 scheme will be announced by Coimisiún na Meán in August 2025.

I look forward to seeing those projects that are to be awarded coming to fruition.

In addition, the programme for Government commits the Government to funding the strategy. The Department of Communications, Culture and Sport is developing proposals around this, including commitments in the strategy to media literacy as part of the Estimates process and subject to the availability of resources. While media literacy is a vital component in our fight to counter disinformation, it must be acknowledged that as a whole-of-government and whole-of-society challenge, there are other ways to counter disinformation. For example, enhanced regulation, which places obligations on online platforms to minimise the availability of harmful and illegal content, including disinformation, is highlighted in the strategy. Coimisiún na Meán is at the heart of Ireland's online safety framework. Comprising the Digital Services Act, the Online Safety Media Regulation Act and the terrorist content online content regulation, the online safety framework has an important part to play when it comes to countering disinformation.

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. It is important to say at the outset that the proliferation of new technologies like artificial intelligence and the generation and communication tools associated with that are a massive opportunity in terms of connecting society and making information more plentiful, but also presents a number of challenges. I am a firm believer that innovation should always be promoted and welcomed, but should also be accompanied with safety and very clear expectations and parameters about how to guarantee the safe use of new technologies.

All of the reports generated about employment, labour and the sort of skills we need for the future have correctly identified things like green skills, digital skills and the ability to understand AI skills. Report after report shows that employers and, more broadly, society are looking for people who have critical thinking skills, as well as the ability to solve problems on their own and to differentiate what might be real or false. It is important that we as a society and the Government not only say that these are things employers look for. In order to build well-rounded citizens and people who can actively engage in a democracy, we must ensure critical thinking skills are central to this.

I welcome the funding of the various programmes for broadcasters and media organisations from Coimisiún na Meán. I encourage the mainstreaming of that because it is something we will have to be vigilant about and keep an eye on. That is the core point. We must make sure that we continue to prioritise ongoing research and monitoring to stay ahead of this evolving threat so that we can evaluate how extensive it is and, indeed, how successful our efforts to address and to deal with it are.

Let us continue to act not just to regulate but to educate, and not just to respond but to build resilience in our democracy because the truth is worth protecting. Facts do matter because, ultimately, they underpin the conversations that sustain the open free speech of our democracy.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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As I set out, the national counter disinformation strategy explores the challenge of disinformation in Ireland, its harmful effects on society and its complexity as a policy issue. It is important to state that it is not the role of our Government or, indeed, any regulator to decide on individual instances of disinformation.

As mentioned, one of the fundamental aims of the strategy is to promote resilience in people to support media literacy and high-quality journalism to help people to make their own decisions about what is or is not disinformation. Having published a strategy in April, we are moving to implementation. A steering committee has been established and had its first meeting on 20 June. Actions are being progressed which support the commitments in the strategy.