X challenges Coimisiún na Meán over online safety code

In papers filed on Friday, Twitter International Unlimited Company took the case against Coimisiún na Meán. File Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

Social media giant X, formerly Twitter, has lodged judicial review proceedings in the High Court against Ireland’s media regulator over its new online safety code aimed at protecting people online.

In papers filed on Friday, Twitter International Unlimited Company took the case against Coimisiún na Meán.

It is understood that X had 28 days after the publication of the online safety code to take a court case to challenge aspects of it. That deadline was set to expire on Tuesday.

Published in October, Coimisiún na Meán vowed the code could hold social media multinationals to account for content inciting hatred, self-harm, and cyberbullying, but experts questioned whether the code will have the teeth to keep children safe online.

Under the code, if such platforms breach the rules they could face heavy penalties of up to €20m or 10% of their turnover — whichever is higher.

Lobby groups for social media giants including X and TikTok claimed provisions of the code were “overly prescriptive” and “overreaching”.

In August, X wrote: “[Twitter] reserves its right to challenge the lawfulness of the Code.” 

While the judicial review papers were filed on Friday, no hearing date has been set.