Media regulator has ‘full arsenal of tools' to tackle online child sex material
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
The Mick Clifford Podcast: Is the Wild West era of social media over?
For the first time, new regulations aimed at protecting Irish children online have been enacted – the 'Wild West' era of social media is over. At least, that's according to the Government, which this week announced the beginning of the Online Safety Code. It's taken the law over 20 years to catch up with social media – and in the meantime, a whole generation of children has been exposed to violence, pornography, self-harm content and misogyny, with only some minor attempts at protecting them from Big Tech. But Ireland's Online Safety Code is part of a wider effort, including Europe's Digital Services Act, the UK's Digital Services Act and new Australian rules around social media, which include under-16s being banned from opening YouTube accounts. The measures have been widely welcomed in Ireland but have become the subject of huge debate in the UK. So – what are the rules, what are the penalties, and crucially, do they have enough teeth? Irish Examiner journalist Sean Murray joins Deirdre O'Shaughnessy on this week's episode of The Mick Clifford Podcast. Read More Will tech giants finally take online safety for children seriously? Meta's ban on political ads will mean less transparency and more slop for users Social media aimed at kids is driven by profit, not safety
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Extreme online pornography 'fuelling gender violence', says Garda boss
Extreme online pornography is 'corrupting' young men into inflicting serious sexual violence on women, including in relationships, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said. Commissioner Harris said tech companies are making 'billions' from this trade, which is also driving rises in domestic violence. 'A taboo subject' The commissioner, who retires at the end of August, said greater societal awareness of the 'blight' of domestic violence was needed, adding it was really a 'taboo subject' in the country. His comments come as official figures show almost 26,900 domestic abuse calls were made to gardaí in the first five months of 2025 – around 5,370 a month, on average. It is almost on a par with 2024, which was a record year, and significantly higher than preceding years. Mr Harris highlighted his concerns about domestic and sexual violence as he reflected on his seven-year term as commissioner at his final meeting with the renamed Policing and Community Safety Authority (PCSA) and the challenges ahead for policing. Other areas he raised were: Cyber crime — from child sexual abuse imagery, to online fraud scams and economic crime, saying this was the 'fastest-growing area of crime' which will be fuelled by AI; Drugs trade — pointing out that there seemed to be 'no end in the appetite for drugs', and that despite huge seizures by gardaí they 'do not seem to be denting supply' or street prices, and called for public health awareness campaigns of the damage caused by drugs. Mr Harris, who raised gender violence as one of his priorities at the start of his term in September 2018, said recent court cases of domestic homicides painted a 'grim vista'. He said the home 'should be the safest place' for women, but that too many have been murdered by their intimate partner. 'It's a very, very sorry, tragic tale,' he said. He agreed with PCSA chairwoman Elaine Byrne that 'not the same attention' was placed on the murder of women compared to gangland murders, adding there were 12 domestic murders of women compared to two gangland murders in 2024. Extreme pornography Mr Harris said extreme pornography on the internet had 'normalised very violent sexual conduct' by men towards women, including in relationships. Garda figures show that 67 prosecutions for non-fatal strangulation have been taken since the offence was introduced in November 2023, some 58 of which related to domestic abuse. Mr Harris said that domestic abuse situations 'can escalate very quickly and very tragically', but said the force had invested heavily in specialist units and training of gardaí and was improving. He said there needed to be an awareness of domestic abuse as a 'real blight on our society', adding it was "really a taboo subject'. On road policing, the commissioner expressed serious concern at a recent review of roads policing, which he said showed that a 'substantial minority' of gardaí 'seem to be little interested in road policing'. Ms Byrne said it was a 'shocking report'. On behalf of the PCSA, she thanked Mr Harris for his "seven years as a public servant".
Irish Post
3 days ago
- Irish Post
Elon Musk's X loses high court challenge over online safety rules
X, formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, has lost a High Court challenge against Ireland's media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, over new online safety rules that came into force earlier this month. The court's decision marks a significant victory for the regulator and signals a strong mandate for tighter content controls on major tech platforms operating in Ireland and across the European Union. The challenge was brought by X International Unlimited Company, which operates the platform in Ireland. The company had sought to overturn the regulator's decision to adopt parts of the Online Safety Code, claiming the new rules represented 'regulatory overreach' and conflicted with European law. Specifically, X objected to provisions in the code that require video-sharing platforms to restrict or remove content deemed harmful to children, including material that promotes eating disorders, self-harm or bullying. In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, Justice Conleth Bradley dismissed the company's arguments, stating the code was in line with both the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), two major pieces of EU legislation governing online content. The judge rejected the claim that the Irish code imposed broader restrictions than permitted under EU law and affirmed that the AVMSD and DSA work 'in a complementary manner.' X had argued that the definition of 'restricted content' in the code was too vague and that it blurred the line between illegal content and so-called 'legal but harmful' material. The company also claimed that Coimisiún na Meán lacked the authority to impose certain requirements and that some provisions should be struck down. However, the court found that the regulator acted within its powers and that the rules were proportionate to the goal of protecting children online. The ruling follows ongoing tensions between X and the Irish regulator. Just last week, Coimisiún na Meán wrote to the company expressing concerns that it had not implemented adequate age-verification measures to prevent minors from accessing pornography. X responded by stating it had adopted such measures in Ireland, and the regulator is now reviewing whether these are sufficient to meet the code's standards. X's court loss comes as new online safety laws take hold in other jurisdictions, including Britain. Elon Musk has publicly criticised these laws, describing them as attempts to suppress free speech. Meanwhile, the introduction of age checks and content controls has prompted a spike in the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), with two VPN providers currently among the top five most downloaded utility apps in Ireland's Apple App Store. The High Court judgement will be formalised later this week, and the judge indicated he was inclined to order X to pay the commission's legal costs. It remains unclear whether X will appeal the decision. See More: Elon Musk, High Court Dublin, Online Safety Code, Twitter, X
