Social media firms to be hauled before media minister

It is understood that five tech firms — Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, and X — have been invited in to meet with Patrick O’Donovan.

Social media firms are to be hauled before media minister Patrick O’Donovan on Monday, as calls grow for tech companies to introduce age verification for users.

Mr O’Donovan is due to tell the tech firms the era of the “Wild West” on social media is coming to an end.

The Fine Gael minister has repeatedly called for the introduction of age and identity verification on social media platforms and will tell companies this must take place as a priority.

Tánaiste Simon Harris has also pushed against tech firms, saying the “era of self-regulation” for social media is over.

It is understood that five tech firms — Meta, TikTok, Google, LinkedIn, and X — have been invited in to meet with Mr O’Donovan.

At present, sources have indicated all five will attend and are providing representatives.

“The jig is up. Banking and financial services have been utilising systems to verify ages and identities for years now — so he won’t accept that it can’t be done, or it’s too difficult to implement or police,” a senior Government source said.

“The damage that social media is doing to young people and to society in general is extremely worrying.

“I think as a parent and a politician the minister sees all the impacts, up close and personal and he’s had enough”.

The code, set out by broadcasting regulator Coimisiún na Meán, is aimed at protecting children online, with binding rules that seek to prevent harmful content like cyberbullying, racism, or incitement to hatred.

These rules will require platforms to introduce robust age verification, such as verifying a passport, to prevent children from accessing pornography or gratuitous violence online.

If a company breaks the new code, fines of €20m or 10% of their turnover, could apply.

The code itself has received pushback from some tech firms, with a number of companies, including X, Reddit, and Tumblr, taking judicial reviews against the code. 

Both Reddit and Tumblr failed in their High Court cases.

In the case of X, it accused Coimisiún na Meán of “regulatory overreach” in its approach. 

That judicial review is set for hearing in June.

In April, digital services commissioner John Evans said that, based on discussions with these platforms, they already have a “sense of what direction different players are going and what our approach might be”.

He also said that “different platforms have different attitudes” to the code, and that the regulator has been subject to “pushback” from some platforms regarding the obligations being put upon them.

Coimisiún na Meán has recently flagged concerns about the sharing of AI-generated child abuse imagery being shared online.