'Unacceptable and disappointing': Tech giant decline invitations from Oireachtas committee

A member of the public passes the Dublin GQ of Facebook parent company Meta. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

It is “unacceptable and disappointing” that Google, Meta, Twitter, and Amazon all declined invitations to appear before the Oireachtas finance committee today to discuss the increasing prevalence of online scams and financial frauds here, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Finance has said.

Pearse Doherty said that tech giants had “a responsibility to come before the committee” to discuss the huge increase in the level of financial frauds and scams reported to An Garda Síochána in recent years.

Last week, a Department of Justice report outlined how instances of investment fraud have risen by 258% since 2019.

The same report also found that instances of account takeover fraud — when a cybercriminal gains access to the victim's login credentials to steal funds or information — have increased by 560% over the same period, and that instances of romance fraud have risen by 83%.

The report also highlighted a 417% increase in the number of 'phishing’ (scam emails), ‘smishing’ (scam texts), and ‘vishing’ (scam calls) reported to gardaí over the last four years.

Mr Doherty said the committee had sent invitations to each of the tech giants last month.

“This was as a part of the committee’s series of engagements on financial fraud and scams,” he said.

All four refused to come before the committee. This is disappointing and unacceptable.”

Mr Doherty said online scams were now “robbing citizens of millions of euros every year.”

“It is a fact that many victims are targeted online, through these companies' very platforms, including through fraudulent websites and advertisements,” he said.

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty: Rejection of invitation 'a troubling sign of their commitment to tackling scams and fraud that originate on their own platforms'

Noting that all four firms had given evidence on the issue of scams and financial fraud to the British treasury committee in September 2021, Mr Doherty said the Oireachtas committee had agreed to reinvite them all to appear before it in the coming weeks.

“That Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter declined to come before the committee is a troubling sign of their commitment to tackling scams and fraud that originate on their own platforms,” he said.

The Irish Examiner has contacted Meta, Google, and Amazon for comment. An email to Twitter's press office was met by an autoreply of a poo emoji.