Latest news with #CoimisiúnnaMeán
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Young people want TikTok held accountable for harmful 'SkinnyTok' trend
The European Commission and Coimisiún na Meán have said they are aware of the issues linked to the trend known as 'SkinnyTok', the social media hashtag which promotes often dangerous advice to make people as thin as possible. European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the protection of minors online was a "top priority". "Risks linked to TikTok's algorithms are part of the investigation opened against TikTok in February 2024. "Specifically, we are investigating TikTok's mitigation measures in relation to harmful algorithmic recommendation, including in relation to eating disorders," he said. Head of Advocacy and Young Engagement at UNICEF Ireland Aibhlín O'Leary said that she frequently hears about SkinnyTok from teenagers, as part of the workshops she conducts in schools. "Digital harm and online spaces come up a lot in our conversations," she said. "It's primarily girls that talk about the impact of this trend, particularly on their self-esteem and the pressure to achieve this perfect, very skinny body, and the messages that they're receiving from influencers and content producers on platforms like TikTok." As part of the UNICEF workshops, teens are asked what they would like to see change in relation to the issues that impact them. In relation to SkinnyTok, Ms O'Leary said: "The greatest demands from young people are to do with companies like TikTok and Meta that are facilitating these platforms. "We hear a lot of young people saying, these organisations like TikTok should be more accountable, that they should remove this content, they should put up warnings to let people know that this might be harmful, or it might even be related to an eating disorder". In a statement to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, TikTok said it has "strict rules" against dangerous weight loss behaviours on its platform, and the app offers several wellbeing resources, ways to connect with experts. It added that for teenage viewers, some content with harmful body ideals is age restricted. Ms O'Leary said that the teenagers were able to distinguish between videos that promoted a healthy lifestyle and what they called 'SkinnyTok'. "SkinnyTok is where it moves into suggestions like 'Summer is coming, so I better not eat'. That's where the toxic element of it really comes in." TikTok account holder Valerie Spicer, who is based in the US, posts SkinnyTok content under the username housebunnygymrat. "I share my journey and lessons learned through weight loss, binge eating, recovery and strengthening my self-concept," Ms Spicer said. In many of Ms Spicer's videos she precedes her advice with the word "credentials" and points to a photograph of her past self in a larger body. Ms Spicer explained that the reason she does that is to be "honest and accountable" with herself. She added that she uses words such as a 'fat' and 'skinny' as a way of "taking control back from some of those words that can be a little bit polarising". Speaking from her home in Dallas, Texas, about the kind of videos she posts to TikTok, Ms Spicer said she receives far more positive feedback than negative. "While I've used the SkinnyTok hashtag and that verbiage because it's a popular topic, I'm still aware that topics like that do require nuance. "So, I do try to balance sharing a subjective experience with an objective perspective. "I'm not here to hurt anyone's feelings. I definitely do take that feedback into consideration. "I figure out how I could reword something if it's truly, you know, causing more harm than good," she said. As well as mental health, physical health can also be influenced by content on SkinnyTok. "Every person who comes to see me will admit that they have at some stage seen something online and they're not too sure if what they've seen is true or not," said dietitian Michaela Carrick. Ms Carrick also makes TikTok videos under the username michaelanutrition responding to the incorrect health information seen under 'SkinnyTok' and similar hashtags. "You can tell from a lot of their content [on #skinnytok] that [the TikTokers] are talking from personal experience, so it's not based on scientific research or any evidence. "It's just 'This worked for me and look at all these amazing results that I've gotten, you should do the same thing if you want to be like me'." Ms Carrick said that no healthcare professional would give advice to a patient or client based on their personal experience. She added that content that gives personal advice for weight loss may be meant well, but could potentially cause harm if seen by a vulnerable person. "A lot of this advice that we see online is acting as if everyone needs to eat exactly the same way, but everyone's going to have completely different needs, Ms Carrick said. "And then you add the complexity of people being young, developing, being quite impressionable and potentially having more issues with their body image or their relationship with food, while everything is changing. "So definitely you shouldn't be using this advice that people are sharing". Ms O'Leary of UNICEF acknowledged that the potentially harmful messages seen on the SkinnyTok hashtag have been around for a long time, including on other social media platforms. "The content or the message isn't something that's particularly new, what may be different in TikTok is how powerful the algorithm appears to be. "Young people are saying once you watch one of these videos, you're just hooked into this spiral of them, and you just see and more and more of this content. "We definitely hear people saying that their mental health has suffered, that their self-esteem has gone down, that they're comparing themselves to other girls online to women online whose body looks nothing like theirs". Coimisiún na Meán is assisting the European Commission with its investigation into TikTok. In a statement, Coimisiún na Meán said that is recognises the potential harm for children caused by leading them down 'rabbit holes' through recommender systems used by platforms.
Business Post
24-05-2025
- Business
- Business Post
What the Papers Say: World reacts to Trump tariffs; new boss for Tesco Ireland; Big Tech firms ‘should be in court' says minister
10 am - Good morning from a busy Business Post newsroom. Editor Daniel McConnell here with you. With the world reeling from US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat, here are the stories making the headlines here in Ireland and across the world. Donald Trump 'not looking for deal' as he threatens EU with 50% tariff Donald Trump said he was ' not looking for a deal ' with the EU, hours after he announced plans to impose a 50 per cent tariff on imports from the bloc next month, the Financial Times is reporting. In a post on Truth Social on Friday, the US president attacked the EU for what he alleged were unfair trade practices and said negotiations over a new deal were failing. 'Therefore I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.' The EU fired back later on Friday, saying it would 'defend our interests'. 'EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats', the bloc's trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on X after a phone call with his US counterparts. Ireland says tariff move is 'enormously disappointing' In terms of Irish reaction, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the announcement by Mr Trump as ' enormously disappointing ', the Irish Times reports. 'Tariffs at the level suggested would not only push prices up, they would grievously damage one of the world's most dynamic and significant trading relationships, as well as disrupting wider global trade,' the Taoiseach said. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said tariffs 'are a bad idea. They're bad for Ireland, the EU, and the US. They push up prices for consumers and businesses. We have built a relationship of prosperity, jobs and investment based on working together and trading together'. Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, confirmed that the Trump administration had been dissatisfied with the progress of the negotiations under way since the 90-day tariff pause was announced on April 2nd. Big Tech firms 'should be in criminal court', says Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan The Cabinet minister overseeing Ireland's newest Big Tech regulator says he would like to see social media platforms 'in the criminal courts' for neglecting to protect children online, the Irish Independent reports. Patrick O'Donovan, minister at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media which set up Coimisiún na Meán, also described swathes of the sector as 'rotten' with a system summed up by 'lots of carrots and no sticks'. His blunt remarks come after Coimisiún na Meán commissioner John Evans said that the powerful new regulator has begun scoping possible probes that could lead to large fines and other sanctions on Big Tech firms. In recent years, Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner has fined Instagram €405m and TikTok €345m for failing to adequately protect children online. But Mr O'Donovan said tougher measures may now be needed. ESB group owes €5.6bn in bonds State-owned energy supplier ESB owed €5.66 billion to creditors holding its bonds at the end of last year, new figures show. The group, whose Electric Ireland subsidiary sells electricity and gas, borrows money from capital markets by issuing bonds through another arm, ESB Finance Designated Activity Company. Accounts recently filed for that business show it owed €5.66 billion in total on foot of those bonds on December 31st last year. That was about €300 million less than the €5.97 billion due 12 months earlier, the figures show. ESB Finance repaid a €300 million bond in January last year, the date on which it was due. Daily Telegraph to be sold to RedBird Capital The UK's Daily Telegraph is to be sold to a transatlantic consortium led by RedBird Capital Partners under a preliminary deal to end two years of gruelling uncertainty and deliver significant investment in journalism. Gerry Cardinale, the founder of the US private equity firm, has signed an agreement in principle to acquire control of The Telegraph for £500m from RedBird IMI, an investment vehicle majority backed by the United Arab Emirates. RedBird IMI was blocked by the Government from taking full ownership last year following a parliamentary outcry over press freedom, the Telegraph itself is reporting. Now, RedBird Capital, which provided a quarter of RedBird IMI's funding, is moving to take direct control of the publication and is expected to be joined in the ownership group by British media investors. They have an ambitious plan to accelerate The Telegraph's growth at home and abroad. Oracle to buy $40bn of Nvidia chips for OpenAI's new US data centre Oracle will spend about $40bn on Nvidia's high-performance computer chips to power OpenAI's new giant US data centre, as technology groups race to build the vast infrastructure needed to underpin artificial intelligence models, the Financial Times also reports. The site in Abilene, Texas, has been billed as the first US Stargate project, the $500bn data centre scheme spearheaded by OpenAI and SoftBank, and will provide 1.2 gigawatts of power when it is completed next year, making it one of the largest in the world. Oracle would purchase about 400,000 of Nvidia's GB200 chips — its latest 'superchip' for training and running AI systems — and lease the computing power to OpenAI, according to several people familiar with the matter. Supermarket giant Tesco has announced that Geoff Byrne will lead its management team in Ireland after existing Ireland and Northern Ireland chief executive Natasha Adams moves to a new role, the Irish Examiner reports. Byrne, who lives in Co Wicklow, has been Tesco Ireland's chief operating officer since 2014, and has worked for Tesco for over 30 years. Tesco Ireland has 183 stores nationwide, employing more than 13,500 people. Tesco is the single largest retail buyer of Irish food and drink in the world, buying €1.6bn a year. Tesco Group chief executive Ken Murphy - who himself hails from Cork - said Mr Byrne "knows our business better than anyone. "Geoff takes over a business with strong momentum, and I believe his deep understanding of our customers together with his extensive retail experience, will help us build further growth in Ireland,' said Mr Murphy. "I have spent my entire career in Tesco. I love this business, and I am so proud to now have an opportunity to lead it. I'm really excited about the opportunities ahead," said Mr Byrne, who takes up his new role next month. He will also join Tesco Group's executive committee. Adams will take up a newly created role of group strategy and transformation officer on Tesco's executive committee, after three years as Irish CEO.
Irish Examiner
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Empowering journalism to speak truth to power
Democracy is, in some ways, a fragile thing. It is hard won in many countries, and yet readily trod underfoot or taken for granted. And perhaps there's good cause for the latter. After all, you should be able to take it for granted that your country will allow free elections and public debate. You should be able to take it for granted that the rule of law will prevail. And you should be able to take it for granted that you can speak truth to power without dire repercussions. Yet democratic institutions are under attack more ferociously than ever, both by political forces and a deluge of misinformation and disinformation, a good degree of it produced by mangled AI — one thinks only this week of Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot spewing nonsense about 'white genocide' in South Africa. Systems of checks and balances are there for a reason. They are to prevent, or at least restrict, the appropriation and misuse of power, in whatever form. One only has to look across the water to see, though, that where there's a will there's a way. Or in this case, a way through it, if enough other people with power are willing to stand to one side. The role of the press should not be overlooked in the democratic process. Outside of a parliamentary chamber, the media is one of main routes for speaking truth to power, a phrase that originates with Quakers within the American civil rights movement. Still, regardless of the origin, the principle predates it and remains. The more transparent the operations of government, the better; and the more able journalism is to call out any lack of transparency, the better. The Washington Post was right, in this regard, to change its motto in the first Trump regime to 'democracy dies in darkness', though there is a certain irony it retains that despite its owner, Jeff Bezos, falling into line behind Trump. It shows that democracy, and the journalistic support for it, is indeed something that should be continually nurtured, refreshed, and supported. By buying a copy of the print Irish Examiner, or subscribing to you are actually playing a part in this. But there are other moves afoot. These have included, for instance, Coimisiún na Meán releasing grants to publishers and reporters under the broad banner of local democracy reporting — this could be district courts that might otherwise be under-served, or special projects that a publisher may not otherwise have the resources (including time) to produce but which focus on things that profoundly affect local communities. No matter what changes time brings, the importance of substantive journalism (whether that be through text, audio, or video) remains key to the democratic process. Only time will tell, however, whether that process remains intact across the Atlantic. Support from an unlikely source As the world's biggest economy dismantles environmental regulations and protections — to the extent that its leader has ordered the logging of national forests — it might seem surprising that some support for climate protection measures comes not from rival politicians or grassroots organisations, but from companies. The report, from InfluenceMap, looked at 200 of Europe's largest companies and analysed their corporate policies (including the actions they lobbied for) with regard to climate. It shows more are lobbying for climate action: The proportion of firms whose policies aligned with science on the climate has surged from 3% in 2019 to 23%, and the unaligned figure collapsing from 34% in 2019 to 14%. Admittedly, this is a European view that is not necessarily shared by the big polluters based in the US, but you have to start somewhere. At a time when Texas heat has hit seasonal records and its energy grid struggled to cope with the demand of air conditioning, we can use all the rays of hope we can get. Lasting relief of a silent moment With American politics seeming a bit like watching the collapse of the Roman Empire in real time, and climate change becoming ever more tangible, it's all the more important to take a few moments here and there to pause. There is a restorative nature to silence — some CEOs like to take a minute of absolute silence to themselves immediately after a meeting — but so too is there a restorative quality to the simple act of getting out among the trees. Our columnist Anja Murray writes with joy at getting to spend a day in one of Ireland's few remaining oak forests, along with its biodiversity. Meanwhile, the Japanese have a concept of 'forest bathing', where time spent engaging with forests (including ambience and movement) is associated with improved mood and decreased stress and blood pressure. And in times like these, we could all do with a bit of those benefits. Read More Irish Examiner view: A gamble on the long game with China
RTÉ News
09-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Coimisiún na Meán awards Central Bank with 'Trusted Flagger' Status
As concerns continue to grow about the proliferation of financial scams, fraud and illegal content on online platforms, a new step was taken today to protect consumers. The Central Bank of Ireland now has a more visible role in working with Coimisiún na Meán to manage illegal content online through its new status as a "Trusted Flagger". Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank, said this formal status recognises "what we have been doing and we are going to carry on doing in terms of detecting illegal content, but it gives the staff here a bit more oomph behind them with this recognition." The concept, which is being rolled out across the EU under the Digital Services Act, identifies organisations who can apply to be "Trusted Flaggers". They are then empowered to identify, detect and notify illegal content within their area of expertise to online platforms, and the platforms are legally obliged to respond. The online platforms must ensure that notices of the presence of illegal content, reported by Trusted Flaggers, are given priority and decided upon without undue delay or potentially face penalties. When asked about consumers who have serious concerns about the potential exposure and impact of financial frauds on them, Mr Makhlouf said "It's very serious, and this needs a lot of people working on it." "There are two aspects to this, financial literacy and making sure that the platforms are actually doing their bit to contribute to solving the problem," he said. When questioned about the responsibilities to protect consumers, he said that "regulators have a role a job to do, but I think the platforms have absolutely got a job to do here,". He added that "some of the platforms have shown greater willingness to work with us on this than others." The Governor also said that there is a need to ensure that "the political system understands the challenges here", adding that politicians are "also pushing" the social media companies, and backing the regulators. When Mr Makhlouf was asked about protections and safeguards for worried consumers who are being increasingly urged to use online banking for their day-to-day money management, he said he thinks the protections are there. "There are two things to be honest. Firstly, personal responsibility. You need to protect yourself", he said. "You need to make sure that you follow the rules and if a provider is telling you x or y about authentication, you need to do that," he stated. The second thing consumers need to be aware of, he said is that "scammers are keeping up to speed on all of this, so things are changing," the Central Bank chief said. "You can't say to people that all the ease and facility of online or telephone banking is something that should stop now because of fraud, and that we should all go back to using cash only because people want to live lives that they can live more easily," he stated. "If you think about the gazillions of transactions that happen just fine, it shows that we just need to protect ourselves and maintain focus on it which we as regulators are doing," he added. Mr Makhlouf said that he is however concerned about the development of AI, saying that AI is now making pretty spectacular frauds harder to detect. John Evans, the Digital Services Commissioner, said that Coimisiún na Meán recognises that financial scams and fraud are a concern to the Irish public. He said that with the appointment of the Central Bank as trusted flaggers, the team there now has a direct relationship with the major online platforms. "We are legally obliging online platforms to ensure that any illegal online content reported by the Central Bank of Ireland, such as financial scams and fraud are prioritised by the platform and dealt with in a timely manner", he noted. Mr Evans added that with this announcement today that "we have a well resourced expert regulator and our hope is that the level of online fraud will be reduced as a result of this." The Central Bank have been granted the Trusted Flagger status for three years, and its designated area of expertise is financial scams and fraud, including the provision and/or offer of financial services without authorisation. The appointment of Trusted Flaggers is an ongoing process and they will feed into Coimisiún na Meán's identification of trends and issues via annual reports as well as having "a continuing dialogue" about the issues.
Irish Independent
08-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Central Bank appointed as ‘trusted flagger' by Coimisiún na Meán to root out online scams and fraud
Under the EU's Digital Services Act, online tech platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are obliged to give priority to notifications from officially appointed 'trusted flaggers' and must also act quickly to ensure that the flagged content is not illegal. The Central Bank is the sole 'trusted flagger' appointed by the regulator, despite the scheme being open to applicants since early 2024. Coimisiún na Meán says that it hopes other entities will apply for the status, which requires heightened levels of resource allocation and commitment. As a designated flagger, the Central Bank has assigned duties and set up processes internally to monitor for online fraud and scams, including any offer of financial services without authorisation. Coimisiún na Meán, which regulates large swathes of big tech platforms headquartered in Ireland, has the power to fine tech giants billions of euro. It is due to begin enforcement processes in the coming months, although no timeframe has been given for when the first enforcement action might conclude. 'Coimisiún na Meán is committed to ensuring a media landscape that consumers can trust, and where they are protected from exploitation and fraud,' said John Evans, digital services commissioner for Coimisiún na Meán. 'By granting the Central Bank of Ireland trusted flagger status, we are legally obliging online platforms to ensure that any illegal online content reported by the Central Bank of Ireland, such as financial scams and fraud are prioritised by the platform and dealt with in a timely manner.' He said that trusted flaggers will also feed into Coimisiún na Meán's 'identification of trends and issues' through annual reports 'which will be instrumental in establishing an informed, evidence-based approach to our platform supervisory activities'. Speaking at the announcement of the regulatory designation, the governor of the Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, said that the move would help strengthen its oversight of the financial sector here. 'The Central Bank of Ireland is delighted to be the first organisation in the country to be granted trusted flagger status by Coimisiún na Meán,' he said. 'This accreditation marks another milestone in the Bank's commitment to protecting consumers and strengthens our efforts to disrupt the activities of unauthorised providers of regulated financial services.'
