Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I wish the people on tour the very best. It is great to see the Public Gallery packed again, as they observe us do our business.

I am taking the Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Martin, this morning. As we are all in no doubt, the issue of disinformation is a complex and challenging problem to tackle.It affects many different parts of society. For example, disinformation has been shown to have played a role in the manipulation of public opinion in elections, on the pandemic, and more recently on the war in Ukraine. No one approach will solve the issue but instead, to succeed, the fight against disinformation will need to co-ordinate many different approaches.

The Future of Media Commission acknowledged this in its report, published in July 2022, and identified that there is a need for more co-ordinated and strategic action to combat the damaging impact of disinformation.

At a national level, Ireland has utilised a range of approaches designed to combat disinformation. Education plays an important role in giving people the skills to recognise false material and help to prevent its dissemination. Existing media literacy initiatives have supported digital literacy among Irish citizens and are also a key tool in Ireland's response to disinformation.

Legislative solutions that seek to regulate and restrict disinformation, such as the new EU Digital Services Act, are emerging. However, as in any emerging policy area, legal approaches, as with all laws that seek to oversee the online space, must cohere to existing legislation and, insofar as is possible, be robust and flexible in the face of emerging technologies and development.

Senators will, no doubt, be aware that the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act was enacted last December. Members of this House played a vital role in ensuring the Act lays a foundation for the beginning of a regulatory system for the online world in Ireland. The new regulator established by that Act, Coimisiún na Meán, will be formally established on 15 March. Members will also be aware that the Government agreed to designate an coimisiún as digital services co-ordinator under the Digital Services Act.

Among other things, this will see a move away from self-regulation by platforms to a new system of regulation aimed at reducing harmful online content. But legislation on its own is not enough. That is why, in line with the recommendations set out in the report of the Future of Media Commission, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, approved the formation of a working group to develop a new national counter-disinformation strategy. The working group met for the first time on 24 February 2023. The strategy that the working group will develop aims to co-ordinate national efforts to combat disinformation and provide a joined-up approach to ensure effective restraints are applied to the creation and dissemination of this harmful material.

The Future of Media Commission recommended that the strategy be developed in consultation with all relevant Departments and agencies, academia, industry stakeholders, news organisations, civil society groups and Irish fact-checkers and disinformation researchers. That is why the working group comprises representatives from Departments as well as bodies such as the Press Ombudsman, the Library Association of Ireland, the National Youth Council of Ireland and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, as well as academics and other experts. At its meeting, the group agreed that Martina Chapman, who is an expert in media literacy and the national co-ordinator for Media Literacy Ireland, would be the independent chair and officials in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media are to act as the secretariat to the group.

The strategy will endeavour to identify measures to support innovation in fact-checking, as well as disinformation research. It will also seek ways to help support the important role of free, independent, high-quality journalism and to protect the supply of public interest information. We are all conscious that in combating disinformation, we must be careful to protect freedom of expression as well.

The strategy also seeks to develop long-term monitoring of implementation of legislative and regulatory measures. This monitoring intends to support effective implementation of domestic and international measures, including the forthcoming Digital Services Act.