Social media firms have power to curb content, cttee told

An Oireachtas committee has heard that social media companies are falling short of their duties to safeguard users despite having "the power, the money, the time, the resources to moderate their content".

Representatives of the Hope and Courage Collective - an organisation that empowers communities to take action against hate, bigotry and extremism - appeared before the Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht as part of a discussion on the State response to online disinformation.

The body said that social media platforms are making a lot of money from content and need to be held to account.

Spokesperson Niamh McDonald said: "We have to put the pressure back on them".

She added that she is concerned about the cut in the number of 'trust and safety teams' staff reported at social media companies in recent years.

"We can see a rise in anti-migrant content since November 2022 when those moderator numbers started being cut," Ms McDonald said, and that "fear is driving public debate".

The Government is not doing enough, according to the organisation.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue was critical of the gaps in regulation and the approach by large social media companies to moderation.

Senior analyst Aoife Gallagher said the idea that "you curate your own feed is not true" as research by the institute showed that accounts for 13 year olds were being offered the same content as those aged 30.

"Children will always find a way to get to content," she added, noting that more protections need to be in place.

Committee Chair Niamh Smyth asked the representatives if they believed there is "a comfort" for content creators "because of no enforcement".

Ms Gallagher said she believed "there is a playbook for creators of misinformation against migrants".

People film "the worst confrontations" and post the videos online, she said.

The footage is circulated and "amplified by far-right online users globally," she added.

Ms Gallagher also said it is notable that people post evidence of the criminal behaviour in their own names "so there is something missing there".

There was broad acknowledgement at the meeting that gardaí have limited resources to combat the rise in the spread of misinformation and disinformation, but they need upskilling in this area.

The hearing also heard criticism of Appeals Centre Europe, a Dublin-based independent body set up recently to resolve disputes with social media platforms.

It will initially decide cases in the European Union related to major companies including Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

Established under the EU Digital Services Act, the start-up funding for the centre was provided through a one-time grant from the Oversight Board Trust of Meta, set up to oversee content decisions on its platforms.

Contributors at the hearing said that they were critical of this attempt to "self regulate" and raised concerns about a "parallel framework" being set up by social media companies themselves.

However, Appeals Centre Europe has insisted that it will operate independently of Meta.

National Coordinator of Media Literacy Ireland Martina Chapman said that parents need "to be empowered" to take action in relation to content, adding that a website "like webwise.ie can be a useful tool".

Fine Gael TD Michael Ring said that he agreed with much of the concerns being expressed in the discussion adding that "this is getting out of hand, something has to be done, they think they are above the law".

"What's more important," he asked, "money or democracy?"

Deputy Ring also said that he had deleted his own accounts last year and found it liberating as he "got elected for 30 years without social media".

The hearing came after the arrest of a man in Co Wicklow as part of an investigation into the creation and spreading of false information on social media.

The man has been released without charge and a file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.