Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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248. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his progress to date in the Programme for Government commitment to “resource and implement the new EU online safety framework to protect vulnerable groups from online harm, and tackle disinformation”. [18283/25]

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, which transposed the AudioVisual Media Services Directive, and that Act is one of three main elements of the online safety framework. The other two elements are the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), under which An Coimisiún is Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator, and the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation for which An Coimisiún is a competent authority.

As provided for under the OSMR Act, 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 the platforms 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 EU Digital Services Act, 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 and take measures to tackle disinformation.

A failure to adequately address these requirements can lead to significant financial sanctions and, under the OSMR Act, continued non-compliance can lead to criminal sanctions for senior management.

This framework is derived from EU legislation. Along with other relevant Departments, my Department continues to engage at EU level on these matters. For example, my Department is engaging with the European Commission and other EU Member States on the upcoming review of the Audio Visual Media Services Directive. All of the elements of the online safety framework are relatively new and the focus now is on implementation to ensure services meet their regulatory obligations.

In terms of resources, significant Exchequer funding was provided to An Coimisiún on establishment to allow it to hit the ground running. Staffing has expanded from around 40 to around 200 currently. From this year, An Coimisiún is being funded from levies on regulated entities, ensuring it will have the resources to implement Ireland's online safety framework effectively.

In terms of disinformation, my Department provided the Secretariat to the independently chaired working group that was established to develop a national counter disinformation strategy, as recommended by the Future of Media Commission. The strategy takes a rights-based approach based on key principles, including protection of freedom of expression.

The Strategy has recently been finalised and submitted to me. I intend to bring it to Government shortly following which it will be published.