Q&A: What are the new online safety regulations that Big Tech is unhappy about – and will they work?

Irish Times

5 days ago

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.
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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.
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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'.
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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.