Naughten pushed on web regulator
Concerns over online threats Social media users suffered abuse
COMMUNICATIONS Minister Denis Naughten will appear before a powerful Oireachtas Committee to discuss the possibility of creating a social media regulator.
Mr Naughten has confirmed he will appear before the Oireachtas Communications committee on October 25, as they begin to scrutinise the Digital Safety Commissioner Bill.
Committee chair Hildegarde Naughton has also confirmed that a cross-party delegation will travel to Strasbourg to meet with European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel, in November.
Ms Naughton, a Fine Gael TD, recently wrote to both the Taoiseach and the Communications Minister urging them to press ahead with legislation for a digital watchdog following a robust committee meeting with Facebook last month.
It was after this meeting that the Galway TD declared that social media companies ‘have shown themselves incapable of self-regulation’ and that if ‘they won’t regulate themselves, we must do it for them’.
The Government had previously committed to creating a digital regulator by the end of this year, but it appeared to temporarily shelve this plan and the minister said the process was ‘far more complex’ than had been anticipated.
Ms Naughton said they will use the meeting with Mr Naughten as an opportunity to highlight their ‘serious concerns in relation to online threats, social media and the regulation around that’.
She pointed to the recent incident of threats being made to a member of An Garda Síochána online and said regulation in this sphere has ‘never been more important’.
She also told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘We are so determined to proceed with this regulation of social media.’
Ms Naughton also confirmed that on November 13, a crossparty delegation will travel to Strasbourg, where they will meet with Ms Gabriel.
Ms Naughton said that while we ‘need to progress our own laws and legislation here,’ it’s important it’s done ‘on a European level, because if something is posted in another jurisdiction and shared here in Ireland – it’s very hard to enforce that.’
A spokeswoman for Mr Naughten said he has ‘consistently stated’ that such a digital safety officer should be created.
Mr Naughten met with Facebook’s CEO Sheryl Sandberg in San Francisco recently, and their executives committed to reviewing their age verification policies on an ongoing basis and said they would ‘update mechanisms where appropriate’.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael Senator Catherine Noone has called for a statutory duty of care obligation to be introduced for social media companies.
Ms Noone told the Mail that she would like to such an obligation introduced for social media companies to ensure ‘they do more to help protect people from online abuse and harassment’.
The senator said recent reports from the UK showed that one in five social media users ‘have suffered harassment, abuse, bullying or fraud.