Naughton brings Ireland’s proposals for Digital Safety Commissioner to International Grand Committee

The Chair of the Oireachtas Communications Committee will update international colleagues on Ireland’s proposals to legislate for a Digital Safety Commissioner at a specialist meeting in Canada this week.

Fine Gael TD, Hildegarde Naughton, will address the second meeting of the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy in Ottawa tomorrow.

The meeting will also hear from representatives of Facebook, Google and Twitter in addition to academics, NGOs working in the area of data privacy, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy and the Chair of the United States Federal Election Commission.

Deputy Naughton said: “The proposals for a Digital Safety Commissioner will mean that an Irish regulator will be able to force the “takedown” of harmful communications on social media platforms and therefore protect younger people and vulnerable adults.

“The proposed Irish legislation was the result of work carried out by the Oireachtas Communications Committee.

“This will have European-wide effects as many social media companies have their international/European headquarters in Dublin and their content will therefore be regulated from Ireland.

“This is an extremely appropriate opportunity in the wake of very recent European elections to consider what can be done to safeguard democracy and continue efforts to make social media a safe space for all to use.

“I look forward to engaging with my international colleagues on this issue this week.”

ENDS