Pressure mounts for digital media watchdog
PRESSURE is mounting on the Government to appoint a Digital Safety Commissioner – as a powerful Oireachtas committee looks set to back a Bill to create such a watchdog.
The establishment of such an office would be a ‘positive development’ in the area of digital safety, which is a matter of ‘great importance’, according to a draft interim report on the Digital Safety Commissioner Bill from an Oireachtas committee.
This Bill to create an office with takedown powers came from Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire on foot of a 2016 proposal from the Law Reform Commission.
His proposal was referred to the Select Communications Committee one year ago by the order of the Dail, and TDs and senators there were tasked with carrying out a ‘detailed scrutiny’ of the Bill before it proceeded to third stage.
Mr O’Laoghaire’s proposal is essentially to create a new State agency – the Office of the Digital Safety Commissioner – which would have the power to order social media companies to remove ‘harmful’ content from their platforms.
In the first draft of this pre-legislative report, the committee notes that ‘harmful digital communications’, including cyber bullying and ‘revenge porn’, are issues of great concern. ‘Therefore the committee believes that prompt and effective takedown procedures are crucial,’ it states.
During the course of meetings in recent months, a children’s charity told TDs and senators that ‘online safety is the child protection issue of our day’.
And the committee notes in the draft of this interim report that ‘as distinctions between the online and offline worlds diminish due to the omnipresence of technology… the committee believes that it is incumbent on society to ensure that children are protected in digital space as they are in other areas of life’.
It also points out that traditional media, such as broadcast, are ‘subject to greater regulation than newer digital media’, and that the ‘usergenerated nature of much new media content… creates the need for a robust takedown regime’.
While most major social media platforms operate a reporting mechanism for users to flag content with moderators, the committee feels that there is a lack of consistency in relation to takedown processes in the sector. This draft document claims this situation is down to the ‘absence of a legislative imperative or regulatory body’.
A Facebook representative last November warned the committee that the new watchdog’s ability to issue a decision ordering the removal of ‘harmful communications’, without allowing an opportunity for appeal, ought to be examined ‘in light of the potential for limiting freedom of expression’.
In this draft interim report, TDs and senators say they believe freedom of expression, ‘while being of crucial importance, is not an absolute right, and must be balanced against individuals’ rights of privacy. Despite this Bill looking set to receive the backing of the multi-party committee, as well as receiving approval from the Dáil in a vote last year, the Government can still veto it. This is because establishing such an office requires Exchequer funding.
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