Labour TD Alan Kelly said he is “dismayed” by the correspondence sent to him by Facebook, TikTok and Google regarding referrals made by these organisations to the Gardaí following content uploaded to platforms regarding dangerous driving.
The Labour TD said “it remains incredible to me that such sophisticated companies would have appeared before the Committee this week without information relating to the viewership of these videos in Ireland, and the number of referrals made to the Gardaí. That information had to be sought and has now finally been produced.”
“Google failed to provide any detail by the deadline of Friday evening, so we still await answers from it,” he said.
Kelly noted that Facebook’s response was “littered with caveats”, and says they are “attempting to justify and dampen down the impact of the fact that content relating to dangerous driving in Ireland received approximately 560,000 views across platforms before any enforcement action was taken by the platform.”
“Views of the High Risk Viral Challenge in Ireland received a staggering 1.5mn views before enforcement action took place. Of the 127 piece of content originating in Ireland, all 127 pieces were eventually taken down.
“Meta was unable to provide data relating to referrals made to Gardaí by Friday’s deadline. This is deeply concerning given the seriousness of the content, the nature of the content and the broader impact that this content has had across Irish society,” Kelly, who is chair of the Oireachtas committee on media, said.
“The evidence submitted to the Committee by TikTok contained similar levels of “justification” and caveats around viewership,” he noted.
“Let’s be perfectly clear: we are talking about companies with extremely sophisticated algorithms globally. It doesn’t wash that systems are not in place to prevent the uploading of such harmful content to platforms in the first instance. It should not be possible for any person or child in this country to see this content or to engage with this content.
Kelly said, “I am deeply concerned at the lack of attention this is receiving from these platforms. They have a duty to ensure this type of content is not hosted across platforms. It is too dangerous and the consequences are too grave. They also have to report any illegal content that could impact the public to An Garda Siochana under Section 18 of the Digital Services Act”
He said, “fines clearly do not work given the enormous profits these tech giants reap. I believe it is time to examine legislation making company directors liable for the hosting of such content.”
“The Committee will reflect on the documentation provided in due course and take further action as is necessary to protect the public interest.”