Morning, Tuesday, 17th September 2024
Online
This conference will focus on next steps for online safety and regulation in Ireland.
It is bringing stakeholders and policymakers together to examine priorities for development and effective implementation of the new Online Safety Code published by Coimisiún na Meán, which requires video sharing platform services to protect users from harmful content.
Delegates will discuss provisions outlined in the code, with an updated draft version published in May and notified to the European Commission for assessment, including the way forward for its practical application in protecting children online, requirements for parental controls, and obligations to prohibit the dissemination of harmful content.
The agenda also focuses on issues arising from the consultation, including the need for clarity and proportionality in the development of the code, and next steps for minimising overlap with wider online safety legislation. It will be an opportunity to consider issues concerning clarity and proportionality, following the recent High Court case regarding the designation of Reddit and Tumblr as platforms to be regulated by a new code.
Priorities for safeguarding children online will be considered, looking at options for effective age verification measures, and addressing challenges posed by aggressive AI recommender algorithms, with certain groups having expressed concern that these will not be covered by the code.
Further sessions will explore areas of best practice in the development of online safety frameworks in Australia and how these can be implemented in Ireland’s approach.
Delegates will discuss coordination with wider EU law, in the context of the country of origin principle which means that the obligations and responsibilities of an online platform established in Ireland will be determined by Irish law. The will discuss implementing and building on the Digital Services Act 2024, which requires online platforms to remove illegal content and introduces obligations regarding algorithmic transparency.
We are pleased to be able to include keynote sessions with: Niamh Hodnett, Online Safety Commissioner, Coimisiún na Meán; and Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- Online Safety Code: priorities, provisions and key issues - structure and implementation - safety impact assessments - defining categories of harm - online education and digital literacy - options for age verification
- regulatory priorities: regulatory support and clarity of responsibility - ensuring proportionality - assessing harmful recommender algorithms - prospects for an individual complaints mechanism
- assessing best practice: learning from approaches elsewhere - options for cross-border collaboration - assessing merits of and challenges for prescriptive and descriptive approaches
- coordination with wider EU legislation: coordinating with regulatory bodies - minimising duplication of regulatory requirements - implementing the Digital Services Act 2024 - ensuring regulation is flexible
- protecting children: safeguarding from cyber-bullying and the promotion of self-harm, suicide or disordered eating - developing robust age verification technologies - providing parents with supportive tools
- tech industry priorities: platforms’ duty of care - implementation of new responsibilities - clarity of guidance and transparency on requirements of advertising policy - approaches for removal of harmful content
- addressing deep learning and AI algorithms: assessing the impact of recommender algorithms on children - potential for minimising the spread of disinformation
- complaints mechanisms: assessing how an individual complaints mechanism could work in practice - addressing resourcing challenges - options for a ‘super-complaints’ system to address systemic issues
The conference will be an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who are due to attend from DCEDIY, ROI; DTCAGSM, ROI; DSIT; Ofcom; Home Office; and the Welsh Government.
The proceedings of the conference will be circulated more widely, to Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, ministerial offices, and government and regulatory officials with an interest in the issues being discussed. All delegates will also receive a video recording of the conference.
