Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
194. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the interactions his Department has had with social media companies and other Government Departments following the release of the nudification feature by an organisation (detail supplied); whether legislation is being considered in order to deal with this feature; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4052/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI want to reiterate to the House my disgust that this type of material is being created and shared on social media. It is abhorrent. My first concern is with those affected, in particular women and children and young people.
The sharing of non-consensual intimate images is illegal under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, 2020, also known as Coco's Law; and the generation or distribution of child sexual abuse material is illegal under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.
If a member of the public is concerned about images shared online, they should report it to An Garda Síochána. Such reports and complaints are important for An Garda Síochána in their investigations of suspected criminality, and it is the responsibility of the Director of Public Prosecutions to direct prosecution of any individual or company for alleged offences.
People should also report this type of content to Hotline.ie, the Irish national reporting centre, which will also pursue the removal of that content.
Finally, under our Online Safety Framework, there is an obligation on platforms to act on reports of illegal content. That is why I would encourage users to report illegal content to the online platform where they saw it and to Coimisiún na Meán. An Coimisiún utilise complaints to help assess compliance by platforms with the online safety framework so reporting illegal content helps An Coimisiún in its work.
Under the Digital Services Act, the European Commission has lead responsibility for the oversight of very large online platforms including X. The European Commission has been very clear in warning X that it must remedy this matter and X has claimed it has taken certain steps to do so. However, the European Commission is taking investigative steps and an announcement on further action is expected imminently. This may include interim measures such as requiring changes to a service.
An Coimisiún is Ireland's Digital Services Coordinator under the DSA and in that role it is continuing to work with the European Commission on this serious matter. I support the European Commission, as the lead regulator, in taking all possible and necessary steps to ensure that X is brought into compliance with its regulatory obligations.
As Minister, it would be wrong to seek to interfere with the process of investigation but I am committed, along with my Cabinet colleagues, to doing all that is required to ensure that people, in particular women, children and young people, are protected online. Ireland has strong laws in place and the Attorney General is continuing to examine whether these can be further strengthened. I will bring a Memo to Government in the coming weeks to set out next steps.
