Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 September 2025
254. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport how "independence" will be defined in respect of the oversight body enforcing the National Counter Disinformation Strategy, and the safeguards will exist to prevent conflicts of interest where such bodies are reliant on State funding. [49473/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra259. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to detail the financial supports promised to "traditional media" as part of the National Counter Disinformation Strategy, and whether this amounts to State subsidies for preferred media outlets while disadvantaging independent or online competitors. [49478/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra260. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether the National Counter Disinformation Strategy will apply equally to politicians, Government Departments and State-funded NGOs in cases where they disseminate misleading or selective information, and the penalties they can face. [49480/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Question Nos 254, 259, 260 together.
The Working Group that developed the National Counter Disinformation Strategy was independently chaired and comprised Government Departments, non-governmental organisations, industry representatives and academics.
In terms of monitoring the implementation of the strategy, my Department leads a steering committee comprised of this Department, the Department of An Taoiseach, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Education, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) Ireland, Media Literacy Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman. This membership therefore primarily reflects organisations that have been charged with delivering actions set out in the strategy and provides a balance between government departments and non-government organisations. The steering committee will be supported by a broader coordination group.
The strategy is not about deciding on individual instances of disinformation. Instead it aims to support the building of public knowledge, build resilience to disinformation, support the effective implementation of existing legislation and regulations, identify and coordinate efforts to counter disinformation across a range of policy areas and bring together a broad range of disinformation counter measures to ensure cross-sector coordination and cooperation.
In terms of legislation and regulation, the strategy states that such measures must respect individuals’ right to privacy and data protection, freedom of expression and access to information rights while online platforms must continually assess, identify and mitigate systemic risks to prevent the amplification of disinformation online.
The Programme for Government recognises and acknowledges the importance of our independent media in the provision of objective, high-quality and trustworthy news coverage.
In order to help both sustain the delivery of trusted information to the public and to promote media plurality in the sector, a number of funding schemes have been put in place and further schemes are due to be launched before year-end.
These schemes are operated by the independent media regulator Coimisiún na Meán and administered on a platform-neutral basis, meaning they are open to applications from media organisations regardless of platform, whether that is print, radio or online-only. The Programme for Government also commits to funding the implementation of the strategy and the Department is developing proposals for this, including for media literacy, as part of the Estimates process, subject to the availability of resources. Any such proposals will be assessed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in line with the yearly estimates process.
My Department and Coimisiún na Meán will continue to work closely together to ensure that necessary supports are available for our media sector, who play an invaluable role in community engagement, cohesion and the promotion of social inclusion across the country and who provide a crucial public service in the delivery of trusted information to our citizens.
