Latest news with #ConlethBradley
Irish Examiner
31-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
X wants to appeal High Court dismissal of case challenging Online Safety Code, court told
Elon Musk's X wants to appeal a High Court ruling dismissing its action against Ireland's broadcasting and online media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, over its online safety code. X International Unlimited Company, which operates X, formerly known as Twitter, had alleged that the media regulator engaged in 'regulatory overreach' in its approach to restrictions on certain video content. Coimisiún na Meán's online safety code, which was adopted last October and came into effect earlier this month, sets out legally binding rules for video-sharing platforms. It is aimed at protecting the public, and especially children, from harmful online content. The social media giant had sought a High Court order compelling the commission to quash its decision to adopt certain sections of the code. It also sought the court to overturn the commission's decision to apply the code to its platform. In a judgment, Mr Justice Conleth Bradley this week refused reliefs sought by X. The judge dismissed several arguments made by the platform in the proceedings, including that the code was out of step with European legislation. At the High Court on Thursday, senior counsel Declan McGrath, for X and appearing with barrister Emma Synnott, said he was instructed to seek permission to appeal the court's judgment. In some High Court cases permission must be granted by the court to appeal a judgment. Noting the judge's provisional view that the costs of the High Court action be awarded to the commission, Mr McGrath said he would not be making any submissions on the matter. Mr Justice Bradley set a date in October for the hearing of X's application for permission to appeal.
Irish Times
29-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
X loses High Court challenge brought against Coimisiún na Meán safety code
Social media giant X has lost a High Court challenge brought against Ireland's broadcasting and online media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, over its online safety code. X International Unlimited Company, which operates X, formerly known as Twitter, had alleged that the media regulator engaged in 'regulatory overreach' in its approach to restrictions on certain video content. Coimisiún na Meán's online safety code, which was adopted last October and came into effect earlier this month, sets out legally binding rules for video-sharing platforms. It is aimed at protecting the public, and especially children, from harmful online content. X, owned by Elon Musk, had sought a High Court order compelling the commission to quash its decision to adopt certain sections of the code. It also sought the court to overturn the commission's decision to apply the code to its platform. READ MORE In a judgment, Mr Justice Conleth Bradley on Tuesday said he was refusing the reliefs sought by X. The judge dismissed several arguments made by the platform in the proceedings, including that the code was out of step with European legislation. The judge found the code did not go beyond what is permitted by the Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMSD), a European Union directive that underpins the code. He said the code was not in conflict with the Digital Services Act, an EU regulation that also sets out rules for online content. In the context of this case, the judge noted the Digital Services Act treats provisions in the AVMSD 'in a complementary manner'. The latter directive is not 'displaced or substantially curtailed' by the Digital Services Act, the judge said, as had been submitted by X. The AVMSD complements the Digitial Services Act in 'providing specific rules in determining what content can be harmful to minors', the judge said. X had submitted that in adopting the sections complained of in the safety code, Coimisiún na Meán went beyond what is permitted by the AVMSD, allowing for a total ban or prohibition of certain online content. X saidthe directive only allows for measures to control access to certain online content. X also argued that parts of the code strayed into the regulation of matters within the scope of the Digital Services Act. Further to this, X argued the code was in conflict with the provisions of the act. The judgment will be formalised later in the week. Mr Justice Bradley said he was minded to make an order for costs in favour of the commission, given it has been entirely successful in defending the action.
RTÉ News
29-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
X loses High Court challenge against Online Safety Code
X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has lost a High Court challenge against Coimisiún na Meán's Online Safety Code. The company had accused the Irish media regulator of "regulatory overreach" by imposing the rules, which require video-sharing platforms to protect users from harmful content. In a judgement today, Mr Justice Conleth Bradley said he did not agree that X was entitled to reliefs sought by way of judicial review. X had argued that the provisions of Part B of the Online Safety Code go further than what was required in transposing the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). Mr Justice Bradley found that the provisions of the code are within the authority of the AVMSD and the 2009 Act, and are entirely complementary to the EU's Digital Services Act and not in conflict with it. A spokesperson for Coimisiún na Meán said it welcomed the court's judgment and will study it in full before commenting further. In recent days, X introduced new age assurance measures in a bid to comply with the Irish Online Safety Code, as well as UK and EU regulations. Under provisions of the code that came into force on 21 July, video-sharing platforms that allow pornography must have effective age assurance measures. Last week, Coimisiún na Meán said it had not seen evidence of measures taken by X to comply with the code. It contacted the platform and asked for an explanation by last Friday. Coimisiún na Meán received a reply from X on Friday outlining the new measures which the regulator is now studying. In an online help centre post, X said it will take a multi-step approach to verification. This will include age assurance using existing signals, as well as age estimates using email addresses and social connections. X said it is also planning user-involved verification options which will include facial recognition and uploading IDs.
Irish Examiner
29-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Social media giant X fails in court challenge against Irish media regulator over Online Safety Code
Ireland's media regulator has successfully defended a High Court challenge from social media giant X over its new Online Safety Code. The judgment of Mr Justice Conleth Bradley was delivered on Tuesday in the judicial review taken by X, formerly Twitter, against Coimisiún na Meán over the code, which fully took effect last week. Both sides have been on a collision course over the Online Safety Code, which obliges major platforms based in Ireland like X, Meta, and TikTok to adopt safeguards to protect children online. Last week, Coimisiún na Meán wrote to X to express its concerns it had not adopted measures to verify the ages of users to allow them to watch pornography on the platform. It gave the Elon Musk-owned firm until last Friday to respond and it did so, with X saying it had adopted such age assurance measures in Ireland. The regulator said it would now assess if this was robust enough to adhere to the code. It follows similar laws coming into force in the UK at the same time, which Mr Musk has hit out at and claimed 'its purpose is suppression of the people'. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, which allow internet users to mask where they are browsing from, have surged in popularity in the past week as these new measures took effect. In Ireland, two VPN providers are in the top five most downloaded apps on the Apple store in the 'utilities' section this week. Advocates have said Coimisiún na Meán must be proactive in tackling the big tech firms to which the code applies, to prevent children being exposed to pornography, extreme violence, self-harm content, and cyberbullying. The High Court had previously heard X had accused Ireland's watchdog of 'regulatory overreach' in its approach to restrictions on certain video content. The company wanted the court to quash the commission's decision from last October to adopt certain sections of the Online Safety Code, which applies binding rules to video-sharing platforms headquartered in Ireland. Penalties for breaching the code could be as high as 10% of a company's turnover. The company had further asked the court to overturn Coimisiún na Meán's decision to apply the code to X. The regulator fully defended its position in the High Court, and said it had developed codes and practices for keeping people safe online in line with Irish and European legislation. Mr Justice Bradley, having considered the arguments, said he did not believe X was entitled to the reliefs it had sought. He said X had placed 'insufficient weight' on its argument that provisions of the code went further than what was required in transposing EU legislation. The judge also said sections of the code do 'not amount to an impermissible or inconsistent overreach' of the provisions of EU legislation, meaning Coimisiún na Meán had acted within its legislative powers. Mr Justice Bradley listed the case for mention on Thursday. In a statement, Coimisiún na Meán said: 'We welcome the court's judgment and will study it in full before commenting further." X was contacted for comment.
Irish Examiner
17-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Watchdog orders Elon Musk's X to clarify how it will protect children on its platform
Ireland's media regulator has ordered Elon Musk-owned X to clarify how it will protect children on its platform or risk 'criminal liability', it has said. Coimisiún na Meán said it was using its statutory powers to compel X, formerly Twitter, to provide information on how it will comply with specific sections of the Online Safety Code, which has been challenged by X through a judicial review in the High Court. 'Information provided by X so far is not sufficient to assess whether X's current measures are sufficient to protect children using the service,' it said. 'Under Part A of the Code, designated platforms must establish and operate age verification systems for users with respect to content which may impair physical, mental, or moral development of minors.' The Online Safety Code sets binding rules on major platforms that also include Facebook and YouTube to prohibit harmful content like cyberbullying, racism, or incitement to hatred. It also makes it incumbent on platforms to have robust age assurance such as verifying a passport photo to prevent children from seeing pornography or gratuitous violence online, as 'merely asking users whether they are over 18 will not be enough'. Set to fully come into force next month, the code is binding on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Linkedin, Pinterest, Udemy and Tumblr. A number of judicial reviews have been launched by firms objecting to the code, including by X. A judgement is set to be delivered in this case by Mr Justice Conleth Bradley on July 25. While that remains pending, Coimisiún na Meán has said it is exercising its powers to tell X it must provide information relating to its compliance with the Online Safety Code. 'X is obliged to respond by July 22, 2025,' it said. 'Failure to comply with the notice by the provider can result in criminal liability, including a fine of up to €500k. 'An Coimisiún will review the response from X and will consider whether the platform has complied with its obligations under Part A of the Online Safety Code and will then determine if further measures should be taken. X was designated by Coimisiún na Meán as a video-sharing platform service in December 2023 and is consequently obliged to comply with the Online Safety Code. It comes after big tech firms including X were hauled in for a meeting with media minister Patrick O'Donovan on Monday with age verification high on the agenda. Separately, European commissioner for justice Michael McGrath has said that new European laws will prevent children from being exposed to 'dark patterns' online while new age checks will stop them accessing harmful content like pornography. He said that investigations into major platforms like Meta's Instagram and Facebook, TikTok and several pornographic websites are ongoing to ensure they are complying with child protection rules. 'The internet should be a place of opportunity for children, not a minefield of risks,' Mr McGrath said. Read More European laws will prevent children accessing harmful content online
