Latest news with #CoimisiúnNaMeán


Irish Times
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Q&A: What are the new online safety regulations that Big Tech is unhappy about – and will they work?
Coimisiún na Meán , the State's media regulatory body, is hoping to address unique issues posed to young people, and society at large, when it comes to online media consumption. 'The era of self-regulation in the tech sector is over,' they say, and propose the new Online Safety Code to affirm this. Set to come into effect this Monday, it's yet to be seen whether these new rules will have their desired outcome, although they have already ruffled the feathers of X , formerly Twitter, which launched High Court action on the State body's supposed 'regulatory overreach' . Q: What is the Online Safety Code? A: It's a lot to digest. The nearly 10,000-word document proposes various regulations on our online media consumption. It targets the service providers themselves – say, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X, for example – in the hope of holding them 'accountable for keeping their users, especially children, safe online', Coimisiún na Meán says. READ MORE It works off the back of laws passed by the Dáil in 2022 as well as the EU Digital Services Act and the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation. Needless to say, it is vast in scope although, at times, sparse in detail. It uses words like 'audiovisual commercial communications' and 'indissociable user-generated content', which simply mean ads and comments under those ads. And super obvious acronyms like VSPS ('video sharing platform services'; think, any social media). Q: What problems does it hope to solve? A: Many. In three words: algorithms, influence and ads. The code makes particular reference to children's online safety, and wants to protect them from content that would negatively impact their physical, mental, and even moral development. As Coimisiún na Meán sees it, this is most easily achieved through imposing restrictions on access to 'adult-only video content, including pornography and gross or gratuitous violence'. They want to crack down on advertisements directed explicitly towards children, and even those that urge children to pester their parents to buy the product or service being advertised. This practice exploits 'the special trust children place in parents, teachers or other persons', according to the code. [ Women in Ireland increasingly subjected to online hate and misogyny, groups warn Opens in new window ] More broadly, it places the onus on the social media platform to protect their users from content that constitutes incitement to hatred or violence against a protected group, displays of criminal offences under EU law, encourages self-harm or suicide, or glorifies an eating disorder Q: And how will they do this? A: This is where things get a bit tricky. Coimisiún na Meán has put forward suggestions. However, the new regulations simply mandate that social media platforms implement their own measures to ensure child safety on their platforms. The code hones in on the use of effective age verification strategies to ensure minors cannot access adult content online. 'An age assurance measure based solely on self-declaration of age by users of the service shall not be an effective measure for the purposes of this section,' the code sets out clearly, meaning people will no longer be able to just tick a box saying they're over 18. This is a big change in the digital landscape, as previously you only had to say you were 18 to access over-18 content, never having to prove it. The code further asks social media platforms that allow adult content to be uploaded on their site to establish an 'easy-to-use, user-led content rating system'. This should allow for content to be flagged as adult-only and unsuitable for children, who otherwise could access the content on the site. It makes an interesting caveat that violent and distressing imagery can be uploaded to the sites, but only for the advancement of civic discourse in the public interest. They introduce a nuance that this be allowed only 'provided such content cannot ordinarily be seen by children'. [ Media regulator made 'big mistake' in not tackling algorithms in online safety code, Dáil hears Opens in new window ] Q: Will the new rules actually work? A: We don't know yet. With suggestions instead of mandates, it will rely on the innovation and willingness of big tech firms to comply with standards that most people believe to be necessary to keep kids safe online. Managing director of Data Compliance Europe Simon McGarr takes issue with a letter to The Irish Times written by Coimisiún na Meán executive chairperson Jeremy Godfrey in January. In it, he writes that it is up to social media platforms to choose how to enforce their rules, and 'uploading documents and/or a live selfie is one such technique, when accompanied by appropriate privacy protections'. Q: Why are the big tech firms unhappy? A: Comisiún na Meán is contesting a case lodged in the High Court by X, formerly Twitter, which says the new code amounts to 'regulatory overreach' on private companies from the State body. X says the requirements are 'broadly framed' and may threaten freedom of speech by banning content that is unsavoury but legal. It makes the point that current EU regulations draw a distinction between illegal content, such as incitement to hatred, and harmful content, such as encouragement of self-harm.


Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Public funds for commercial broadcasters in limbo over EU state aid concerns
Some €6 million set aside in last year's budget for commercial broadcasters to fund news and current affairs broadcasting is yet to be disbursed due to issues with European Union rules governing state aid to private businesses. Coimisiún na Meán was to distribute the funds, which were to be split between Virgin Media Television , Ireland's only commercial television broadcaster, and the commercial radio stations operating in the State, this year. However, officials at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport told Minister Patrick O'Donovan in March that there were 'some state aid issues arising' that the department is 'seeking to resolve'. The remarks are contained in the minutes of a meeting between the Fine Gael TD and representatives from Virgin Media Television on March 6th. The document was released to The Irish Times as part of a freedom of information request. READ MORE In a briefing note prepared for the minister in advance of the meeting, officials separately raised concerns about the application of state aid rules to disbursements from the Government's planned media fund. [ Virgin Media received 'nothing' after requesting €30m from State Opens in new window ] The fund, which will replace the existing Broadcasting Fund, is a component of the Broadcasting Amendment Bill, which is currently at the committee stage in the Dáil. Through various Coimisiún na Meán initiatives, the new scheme will provide funding to all media outlets regardless of platform, to support the production, distribution and archiving of public service media output. Officials told the minister that once the new fund is created, Coimisiún na Meán will still be required to get 'clearance or exemption' from EU state aid rules to distribute the money. This is 'challenging', the minister was told. In response to questions this week, a spokeswoman for the department said all Coimisiún na Meán schemes are designed to comply with the state aid exemption framework. Under the EU rules, funds can only be used to 'incentivise new activity' while the 'subsidisation of existing costs or activities' is prohibited, the spokeswoman said. This condition will also be attached to disbursements from the converted media fund to be established by the Broadcasting Bill and was criticised as being too restrictive by Virgin Media Television managing director Áine Ní Chaoindealbháin in an Oireachtas committee last month. Concerning the €6 million due to be distributed to commercial broadcasters this year, the spokeswoman for the department said the matter 'remains under consideration', and 'it is the intention that funds will be disbursed by Coimisiún na Meán before year end'. In a letter to Mr O'Donovan in late March, Tony Hanway, chief executive of Virgin Media Ireland, reiterated the company's request for €30 million to fund its public service broadcasting. The commercial broadcaster has argued it is entitled to the funds to ensure it can compete with RTÉ, given that the State broadcaster receives €200 million in annual Government funding, along with 'annual multimillion-euro taxpayer-funded top-ups', as Ms Ní Chaoindealbháin told the Oireachtas committee in June. The former Sky News and UTV Ireland executive said at the time that Virgin Media Television had received 'nothing' from the Government despite its requests against a backdrop of rising costs. Ms Ní Chaoindealbháin said that the broadcaster had been forced to make 'some difficult decisions' last year, including cutting the Tonight Show from four to two nights a week, due to 'the commercial situation that we were in'.


Irish Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Challenge by X to Irish media regulator's online safety rules set to begin this week
A legal challenge brought by Elon Musk's social network platform against the online safety code introduced by the country's media regulator is scheduled to commence on Tuesday. Twitter International Unlimited Company, which operates X , alleges in High Court proceedings that Coimisiún na Meán engaged in 'regulatory overreach' in its approach to restrictions on certain video content. Coimisiún na Meán is contesting the case. The company contends that the new online safety code contradicts Irish law requirements for protecting and balancing fundamental rights, particularly freedom of expression. READ MORE The company wants the court to quash the commission's decision last October to adopt certain sections of the code, which applies binding rules to video-sharing platforms headquartered in Ireland. It obliges the platforms to protect people, especially children, from harmful video and associated content. It is also seeking the court to overturn the commission's decision to apply the code to X. Coimisiún na Meán, in a statement late last year, in advance of the court action, said that as Ireland's regulator for online safety it had developed rules and regulations rooted in Irish and EU legislation following extensive consultation. [ Media regulator made 'big mistake' in not tackling algorithms in online safety code, Dáil hears Opens in new window ] 'We will engage in this litigation process and will defend the online safety code and its objective of keeping people, especially children, safe online,' it said at the time. At the launch of the code last October the then Minister for Media Catherine Martin said it represented 'a big step forward in online safety' that would 'make all of us, but particularly our children, safer online'. She said the rules would introduce 'real accountability' for online video-sharing platforms and require them 'to take action to protect those that use their platforms, including by having robust complaints-handling procedures and introducing effective age-verification'. The legal case brought by Twitter International takes particular issue with a section of the code that requires video-sharing platforms to preclude users from uploading or sharing video the code defines as 'restricted'. Falling under the code's 'restricted' heading is video content that bullies or humiliates a person or that promotes eating disorder behaviour, suicide, self-harm or behaviour prejudicial to the safety of children, including dangerous challenges. Twitter International claims the definition is 'broadly framed' and capable of encompassing a 'wide spectrum of content, including legal content'. The company notes that the EU's audiovisual media services directive draws a clear distinction between illegal content, which includes incitement to hatred, and 'legal but harmful' content. [ How can we keep our kids safe online? Here are some tips for parents Opens in new window ] Twitter was renamed as X in July 2023 following its acquisition by Mr Musk, one of the richest men in the world and a close ally and supporter of US president Donald Trump. Over recent months the Trump administration has strongly hit out at what it sees as attempts to censor free speech on US-owned social media platforms. Last week, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said his country would impose visa bans on foreign nationals it deemed to be censoring Americans. He suggested the new policy could target officials regulating US tech companies. Mr Rubio said in a statement that a new visa restriction policy would apply to foreign nationals responsible for censorship of protected expression in the US. He said it was unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants for social media posts made on US soil. 'It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States,' he said.