Taoiseach to meet with Gardaí and regulators over online safety

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Gardaí are to brief the Government on challenges in the online safety space during a summit on Thursday.

Taoiseach Simon Harris is to chair a summit at Government Buildings, designed to create a “collective focus across Government” on implementing the new Online Safety Framework.

Ministers will be briefed by regulators and gardaí on implementation plans, challenges, and how the Government can support their work in Ireland and at EU level.

Coimisiun na Mean, the Data Protection Commission, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, ComReg and An Comisiun Toghchain will be in attendance.

Speaking ahead of the summit, the Taoiseach said: “We find ourselves at an important juncture in terms of regulating the digital world.

“We have an opportunity now to make a difference and ensure we get this right, in particular, for more vulnerable users such as children and young people.

“I want to make sure that there’s a very clear legal understanding in Ireland and across the European Union that the online world does not operate in some sort of parallel universe.

“The obligations that apply offline in terms of abiding by the laws of the land also need to apply online.

“With the upcoming new Online Safety Code and the Digital Services Act, we have significant tools at our disposal. We must now make sure we are using these effectively.

“We are committed to discharging our regulatory obligations in a consistent, coherent and timely manner to deliver appropriate protections for individuals and society, and to provide certainty for industry.

“I look forward to hearing from the Regulators on their plans for continued implementation and enforcement of these important and ground-breaking regulations.”

Mr Harris also plans to meet with wider stakeholders including representing the views of users of online digital services, including children and vulnerable groups.