FG senator: make firms responsible for online content
FINE Gael Senator Catherine Noone is calling for social media companies to be reclassified as ‘publishers’ to make them responsible for the content they distribute on their platforms.
The Dublin Bay North general election candidate told the Irish Daily Mail that such a move ‘would put skin in the game for the industry’, and cites the graphic images shared following a tragic accident on Dublin’s M50 as an example of platforms being ‘slow at best to act’.
Ms Noone also believes the National Advisory Council for Online Safety (NACOS) should consider the option of a ‘mandatory statutory duty of care to be placed on social media giants’.
‘This is particularly important when considering that young children and teens can be exposed to content glorifying self-harm, among other damaging behaviours.
‘Introducing this reclassification... would, I believe, lead to swift and profound changes to people’s ability to share disturbing content.’
It comes after Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley called for the Oireachtas to fly Australia’s equivalent of a Digital Safety Commissioner to Ireland to consult with the communications committee on her work there.
Julie Inman Grant, who is the only such social media regulator in the world, this week reiterated her offer to share her insights on ‘what has (and has not) worked’ for her office. It comes as Opposition parties pile pressure on the Government to appoint a Digital Safety Commissioner. There is currently a Bill to legislate for this with the Oireachtas Communications Committee, but Minister Richard Bruton has said he is consulting with the Attorney General over aspects of it.
Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard, who sits on the committee, told the Mail: ‘Ireland is the home of many social media and technology headquarters, and for that reason we need to urgently address the issues regarding scrutiny and regulation of social media content. At the moment there is a self-policing platform, and we have seen time and time again that this is not working.’