Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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533. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to provide an update on actions taken by his Department in response to the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media Report on “The State’s response to online disinformation and media/digital literacy, including social media and fake news” published in November 2024. [2461/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As the report published by the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media notes, disinformation is a complex issue and thus the recommendations cover a wide range of relevant matters such as online safety, regulation of platforms, media plurality and media literacy.

In terms of my Department's response to disinformation, the Future of Media Commission (FOMC, July 2022) recommended the development of a National Counter Disinformation Strategy to coordinate national efforts to counter this complex issue. That is why in February 2023, an independently chaired working group was established to develop a Strategy.

The draft Strategy is based on five principles: protecting freedom of expression; building resilience through education/media literacy; supporting quality journalism and the provision of reliable public interest information; regulatory enforcement; and research on what does and does not work in combatting this complex problem. The Strategy will set out a range of commitments and related actions which aim to make these principles a reality.

The report of the working group is almost complete and I expect it to be submitted to me shortly.