Social media companies 'can't operate like the Wild West', Taoiseach says

Speaking at the Ploughing Championships, Simon Harris said he would be looking to see how Ireland would implement the Online Safety Framework.

Social media companies cannot live in a "parallel universe", the Taoiseach has said.

Simon Harris will on Thursday evening host an online safety forum, alongside the Digital Regulators’ Group, which includes Coimisiún na Meán, the Data Protection Commission, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, ComReg and An Comisiún Toghcháin, as well as gardaí.

At the Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois, Mr Harris said he would be looking to see how Ireland would implement the Online Safety Framework.

"There's been a lot of discussion in recent weeks and months about online media and social media," the Taoiseach said.

"It is a good thing. Many of you may know I use it. I think it can be a very healthy thing to use, to communicate, to engage, but it also can't operate like the Wild West. It can't operate in some sort of parallel universe. The laws of the land apply there.

According to the Government, the purpose of the online summit is to "ensure a collective focus across Government on effective implementation of the new Online Safety Framework.

"We have a Digital Services Act, and what we now must do is hear from our regulators, hear from Coimisiún na Meán about how we put in place this binding code, and then we get that in place by the end of the year. So we look forward to hearing from them today, hearing from the gardaí and hearing from a range of relevant ministers."

According to the Government, the purpose of the online summit is to "ensure a collective focus across Government on effective implementation of the new Online Safety Framework".

The Online Safety Framework is composed of a number of pieces of legislation including the Digital Services Act, the Online Safety Code and the Terrorist Content Online Regulation (TCOR).

When taken together, it will encompass all of the powers of Coimisiún na Meán to regulate online platforms at a systemic level, and to "improve online safety for all users". 

The code introduces obligations on video-sharing platforms to protect their users from harmful content, including prohibiting the uploading or sharing of harmful content and age assurances.

Coimisiún na Meán has recently given companies including Meta, YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, four weeks to tell it how they are fulfilling their obligations, before it takes further action.

A third of 130 valid complaints made so far to Coimisiún na Meán under landmark EU legislation relate to difficulties reporting illegal content online, such as cyberbullying and other harmful content.

Under the European Digital Services Act, companies who breach their obligations can eventually be fined up to 6% of their global annual turnover.