The Irish Times view on the riots in Ballymena: unequivocal political response essential
What started out as a peaceful protest following an alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl in Ballymena on June 7th
quickly descended into race riots
when it then emerged that the alleged perpetrators, two 14-year old boys, needed the services of a Romanian interpreter during their court appearance.
Studies of what happened show that Ballymena became the locus of far-right social media activity. At the
most acute phase of the rioting,
Ballymena was mentioned nearly 80,000 times across different platforms. Crucially, most of these accounts were from outside Northern Ireland.
An analysis of these posts shows that many of them fall within the legal definition of incitement to hatred. It also became clear that many of the rioters were not from Ballymena and were intent on exploiting local tensions. Sporadic violence spread elsewhere in Northern Ireland as well.
READ MORE
This is similar to what happened in Southport in southern England last year. Far-right activists are opportunistically co-ordinating through social media to stoke tensions and foment race riots.
There are some lessons to be learned. One is the need for ongoing improvement in social media controls.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, has dismantled most of the guardrails on his platform on the basis that they undermine free speech. The reality is that X has become an unmediated platform for hateful content that has very real consequences for the more vulnerable in society, such as the migrant community in Ballymena.
Against this backdrop, the EU has no choice but to resist any pressure from the Trump administration to lessen controls on social media as a quid pro quo for a US-EU trade deal. A key goal of the EU rules is to place responsibility on social media companies to ensure online content is safe, fair and secure.
However, local factors were also at play in Ballymena. The town has become an unemployment blackspot in recent decades. Meanwhile, the 2021 census shows the arrival of non-English speaking migrants into the town and surrounding areas in recent years. While some tensions have been reported, the recent riots are a dramatic and worrying escalation.
In responding to this, political leadership is important. Wrapping criticism of thuggish, racist violence with suggestions that shortcomings in managing immigration in some way provide a rationale – as at least some politicians seem to have done – is not acceptable.
Condemnation of what happened must be unequivocal.
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Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
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There are other aspects to it too including prohibiting and sharing of content harmful to children such as content promoting eating disorders, self-harm or suicide, cyberbullying, hate speech, and extreme violence. Critics have claimed parts of the code are too vague and don't provide clear enough timelines to take action against those in breach. These same critics say it will be on the regulator to show it has the teeth to hold platforms to account. In theory, X or any of the other firms to which it applies like Meta and Youtube could face heavy penalties if they don't adhere to it. €20m or 10% of turnover, whichever is greater, can come in fines for breaches of the code. The latter percentage figure could run into billions of euro for some firms. But, just because the code came into force on Monday, it didn't mean things had changed overnight. 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'Platforms have benefited from a substantial nine-month implementation period since the Code's publication in October 2024, allowing them more than enough time to develop robust age verification systems other than self-declaration, stringent content controls to prevent child exposure to harmful material, and clear and easy-to-use reporting systems,' charity CyberSafeKids said. It appears that the regulator agreed. No age checks On Wednesday, Coimisiún na Meán wrote to X seeking an explanation as to why there were still no age checks to watch pornography and asking them for an explanation as to how they were complying with their obligations by Friday. 'Platforms have had nine months to come into compliance with Part B of the Code,' it said. 'We expect platforms to comply with their legal obligations. Non-compliance is a serious matter which can lead to sanctions including significant financial penalties.' 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Picture: Anatoliy Babiy Under the Digital Services Act, for example, the European Commission recently opened formal proceedings against sites including Pornhub and XVideos while member states also grouped together to take action against smaller pornographic platforms. The Commission said these major sites hadn't put in appropriate age verification tools to safeguard minors. An in-depth investigation is now under way. Curiously timed as it fell within the same week as Ireland's and the UK's safety codes came into force, X did publish the methods it will use to check users ages, which include the use of a live selfie with an AI used to determine age or using someone's email address to estimate their age. 'We are required by regulations including the UK's Online Safety Act, the Irish Online Safety Code and the European Union Digital Services Act, to verify your age for access to certain types of content,' X said on its website. 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RTÉ News
19 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Von der Leyen arrives in Scotland ahead of talks with Trump
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Irish Times
19 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Cautiously optimistic': Trump officials hopeful of US-EU trade deal
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A massive security operation was in place as he drove his own buggy. Even before he took to the course, police officers and military personnel could be seen searching the area around the resort, which has had a metal fence erected around it as part of heightened security measures. Police snipers are positioned on the roof of the Trump Turnberry hotel during US president Donald Trump's visit in Turnberry, Scotland. Photograph: Getty Images No protesters were seen while he was playing on Saturday, but hundreds of people gathered in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen for demonstrations against his visit, organised by the Stop Trump Coalition. Police Scotland said that no arrests were made but a 50-year-old woman was given a recorded police warning in Edinburgh. Trump has said there was a 50-50 chance that the US and the 27-member European Union could reach a framework trade pact, adding that Brussels wanted to 'make a deal very badly.' 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Trump, who is seeking to reorder the global economy and reduce decades-old US trade deficits, has so far reeled in agreements with Britain, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, although his administration has failed to deliver on a promise of '90 deals in 90 days.' The EU deal would be a huge prize, given that the US and EU are each other's largest trading partners by far and account for a third of global trade. While close, a deal still requires some final negotiations. US trade representative Jamieson Greer and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick departed Washington for Scotland on Saturday for talks with EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who is also travelling to Scotland, before the Trump-von der Leyen meeting. 'We're cautiously optimistic that there will be a deal reached,' said a Trump administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 'But it's not over till it's over.' In case there is no deal and the US imposes 30 per cent tariffs from August 1st, the EU prepared countertariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of US goods. EU diplomats have said a possible deal would likely include a broad 15 per cent tariff on EU goods imported into the US, mirroring the US-Japan deal, along with a 50 per cent tariff on European steel and aluminium. Trump told reporters there was 'not a lot' of wiggle room on the 50 per cent tariffs that the US has on steel and aluminium imports, adding, 'because if I do it for one, I have to do it for all.' It remains unclear if Washington would exempt EU imports from other sectoral tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and other goods that have already been announced or are pending although EU officials are hopeful the 15 per cent baseline tariff would apply also to cars and pharmaceuticals. After spending some time at his South Ayrshire resort, Trump will head to Aberdeenshire, where he is expected to open a second course at his Trump International golf resort in Balmedie. During his time in the north east, Trump is also due to meet Scottish first minister John Swinney. Speaking ahead of the talks, Swinney said it was his responsibility to 'raise global and humanitarian issues of significant importance, including the unimaginable suffering we are witnessing in Gaza' with the president. Saying he wanted to 'ensure Scotland's voice is heard at the highest levels of government across the world' Swinney added: 'That is exactly what I will do when I meet with president Trump during his time in Scotland.' Mr Swinney announced that he met Ms von der Leyen on Saturday evening in Glasgow and discussed the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Mr Swinney said: 'I was pleased to welcome the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to Scotland. 'During our meeting, I outlined Scotland's continued support for the European Union's leadership in demanding free and safe humanitarian aid in Gaza, alongside efforts to bring an end to the unbearable suffering unfolding. 'I also took the opportunity to reiterate Scotland's steadfast commitment to Ukraine and the country's commitment to work with European partners on key issues, including energy.' - Reuters and PA
