Irish Examiner view: We must be vigilant against disinformation at election time
For years, malign global actors have tried, and succeeded, in vicariously manipulating numerous elections or referendums.
We have watched on for years now as various malign global actors have tried, and succeeded, in vicariously manipulating numerous elections or referendums.
The consequences of their actions can be seen across America, Britain, France, The Netherlands, and the South American continent, among others.
The manipulators, Russia and China mainly, do it largely to sow discontent, create confusion, and weaken public opinion against their activities — be they war-like or the subjugation of minority religions or peoples in those countries.
This mischief making is a very dark art.
It is one in which malevolent actors can try and twist public opinion in their favour, or at least in favour of the candidate or candidates who will either turn a blind eye to or — at worst — pivot existing policies against their actions or intentions.
It emerged this week that the Department of Foreign Affairs has officially been warned by French security officials that a network of Russian websites and social media accounts was targeting Ireland to try and sow discord and, particularly, exploit grievances on controversial issues such as immigration.
Viginum, an official French agency tasked with countering disinformation, says that these efforts have extended here since March. The agency added that they are expected to become more pronounced in the run-up to the European elections on June 7.
Ireland, Cyprus, Portugal, and other EU member states have been targeted and while the effectiveness of the campaign is as yet unknown, vigilance against this propaganda can never be too excessive.
They say that with most human activities, timing is everything. Sometimes we get it right; more often than not, we get it wrong. So it was last weekend with the co-operative pay-per-view venture between the GAA and RTÉ, GAAGo.
Prior to Saturday, there had been a groundswell of bitterness about the selection process by which the TV company and sporting body chose which games to put behind a paywall, forcing the public to cough up if they wanted to watch.
Sadly for those in charge of this service, which says its purpose is as a subscription-based sports channel aimed at an international audience and the diaspora abroad, the public and political reaction was hugely negative.
This was because the Cork-Limerick Munster SHC game, which Cork had to win to stay in the competition, turned out to be a 3-28 to 3-26 classic reckoned by many to have been one of the greatest games ever seen. That it could only be watched on GAAGo was particularly unfortunate.
Reacting to the wall of criticism — including from both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste — GAA president Jarlath Burns has vigorously defended the decision, saying that he made no apologies for trying to extract as much commercial revenue as “we possibly can from our games”.
His assertion that “you would almost think there was an election coming up” was a reflection of the frustration internally that the row has threatened to overshadow the game. Mr Burns has a point, with Taoiseach Simon Harris no doubt keen to play up to the sense of grievance felt by many when he hit out at the GAA on a visit to Cork last weekend.
Most things in life require compromise and this instance appears to be a perfect example. It was obvious from a long way out that this was going to be a particularly crucial game and that being so, efforts should have been made to find a solution.
Contractual obligations necessitated Sunday’s Leinster and Ulster football finals being broadcast but some accommodation could have been reached to show Saturday’s Cork-Limerick clash on terrestrial television.
If it is the GAA’s stated ambition to grow the popularity of their sports at home and abroad, reaching beyond the diehard fans is the best way to do it. On this occasion, they fell short.
The late Roger Corman — the so-called ‘King of the B-Movie’ — who died at the weekend aged 98, was responsible for launching many directorial and acting careers. He also played a little-known but significant role in the development of the Irish film industry during a late-career burst of creativity in Connemara.
Corman was a ludicrously prolific director and producer, and while many of his movies were quite dire, the manner in which he went about film-making revolutionised American cinema and influenced generations of independent producers and directors.
Directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Nic Roeg, Ron Howard, and James Cameron all learned their trade working on Corman productions, as did actors such as Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, and Dennis Hopper.
In the mid-90s and looking for ways to make his films more cheaply, he arrived in Ireland. With the backing of the then minister for arts, culture and the Gaeltacht, Michael D Higgins, who was looking to develop an indigenous Irish film industry, Corman began work using untrained local people who were forced to learn the ropes quickly.
Corman’s films might not have been hugely successful in monetary terms, but he leaves an important legacy by way of his influence on the world of cinema.
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