Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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There is now a significant body of legislation providing the foundation for Ireland’s online safety framework, including the regulation of social media.Coimisiún na Meán, as Ireland’s new online safety and media regulator, is at the heart of that framework. It was established under the Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Act, one of three main elements of the framework and which transposed the EU Audio-Visual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The other two elements are the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), under which An Coimisiún is Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator, and as a competent authority in respect of the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation. As provided for under the OSMR, An Coimisiún adopted and applied the new online safety code for designated video-sharing platforms established in Ireland, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X. The code sets out what they must do to protect users: in particular, they are obliged to put measures in place to protect children from harmful content online, have age assurance measures where appropriate, provide parental controls and user-friendly, transparent reporting and flagging mechanisms. As Digital Services Coordinator under the DSA, An Coimisiún works with the European Commission to ensure platforms put in place the systems and processes required to minimise the availability of illegal content. Among other things, under the DSA, the obligations applying to very large online platforms and search engines include requirements to complete risk assessments in relation to the exposure of children and young people to illegal and harmful online content. These services must then address this risk of exposure, including by means of age-verification or age-assurance.A failure to comply with any of these measures can lead to significant financial sanctions, and under the OSMR, continued non-compliance can lead to criminal sanctions for senior management.