Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have all seen the anti-refugee sentiment present now in many of our communities. It has risen to a terrifying point. The attack in Ashtown, Dublin 15, last Saturday was the latest and most insidious incident. Deep down, for many of us, there is a belief that it is only a matter of time, sooner rather than later, before somebody is very seriously injured or worse. There are, of course, many things the Government and the State can do to try to head off the rise in this very ugly sentiment. I will touch on just one action I believe the Government can take and this concerns the role of social media platforms.

I appeal directly to the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Martin, in this regard and to make a statement in this House concerning what influence she is bringing to bear in this context. Some of the largest social media platform companies have their Europe, Middle East and Asia, EMEA, headquarters here in Dublin. It is incumbent on the Government to use its influence now to try to ask representatives of these companies to do all in their power regarding this situation. These companies have an important responsibility in curbing what we all know to be the propagation of lies, false information and hate online. For many weeks now, we have seen individuals and groups preying on communities with grievances and concerns. These people have been allowed to go ahead unimpeded.

While we all defend the right of everybody in this country to have an opinion, it must never be acceptable for somebody to go uninhibited in the publication of lies, hate and fear. These social media platforms can do many things in respect of security checks, anonymous accounts, as we all know, and content moderation. There is a reprehensible, symbiotic relationship between those propagating hate and these companies, because we know the more hits and reach they have, the more these posts are pushed out. I appeal to the Minister, Deputy Martin, to engage directly with the social media companies because we are at a hiatus now regarding the regulation of these entities between the enactment this month of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 and the advent of the online safety code, which many in this Chamber have called for. Additionally, the EU Digital Services Act, DSA, co-ordinators will not be in place until 17 February 2023. We need the Government to step in because there is this hiatus.