In an interview with Extra.ie, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that the Government will lead calls for the introduction of ID-verified social media accounts.
He revealed that his Fine Gael Cabinet colleague, Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan, is bringing forward "very exciting proposals" to introduce an Australian-style ban on children accessing social media "during our presidency of the Council of the European Union next year".
The moves will likely trigger a showdown with social media giants, many of whose European headquarters are in Ireland, and from Donald Trump’s administration, which this week imposed a visa ban on five prominent European figures who have been at the heart of the campaign to introduce laws regulating US tech companies.
However, Mr Harris believes there is support for moves to clamp down on anonymous accounts and bots from powerful EU leaders such as France's President Emmanuel Macron and the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
He was speaking just days after a Dublin woman, Sandra Barry, was given a six-month sentence for sending vile social media messages to the Fine Gael leader, calling him a ‘murderer’ and saying, ‘I hope somebody does something to your family.’
In an interview with Extra.ie, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that the Government will lead calls for the introduction of ID-verified social media accounts. Pic: Ismail Aslandag/Anadolu via Getty Images
However, the Tánaiste insists his new drive to tackle online abuse and disinformation is not about his family, but the need to confront what he says is a real and present threat to ‘democracy’.
‘I felt very strongly about this, quite separate and distinct to the criminal activity my family experienced, it’s an issue in relation to our democracy. And I don’t just mean ours. I mean democracy in the world,’ he said.
‘Very exciting proposals are being brought forward by Patrick O’Donovan around age verification – which I think is important – that we have a digital age of consent. We’ve age requirements in our country for so many things. You can’t buy a pint before a certain age. You can’t drive a car before a certain age. You can’t place a bet before a certain age.
He was speaking just days after a Dublin woman, Sandra Barry, was given a six-month sentence for sending vile social media messages to the Fine Gael leader. Pic: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
‘We have a digital age of consent in Ireland, which is 16, but it’s simply not being enforced. And I think that’s a really important move. And then I think there’s the broader issue, which will require work that’s not just at an Irish level, around the anonymous bots.’
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Moves to enforce verification of social media accounts and introduce age restrictions will require changes to the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), introduced in 2022. Even as it currently stands, the EU’s digital rules have come under sustained attacks from Trump’s administration and tech giants.
But Mr Harris said he wants social media companies to engage proactively with the EU.
The Tánaiste insists his new drive to tackle online abuse and disinformation is not about his family. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photos
He said: ‘This is a conversation we want to have now. We don’t want to have it in an adversarial way. Companies require certainty too, right? This is a country with a proud track record of being a good home for major multinational companies. We are proud of that fact, where we provide access to the European Union.’
He noted that powerful voices in the EU and UK are moving in the same direction.
‘This isn’t just Ireland’s view. If you look at the comments of Emmanuel Macron… of Keir Starmer… recently, in terms of being open to considering what Australia have done, if you look at the actions of Australia, you know this is a global conversation Ireland will and should be a part of.
‘A lot of the solutions are global. Some of the solutions are European. But here in Ireland, we can do things too. These companies are technology companies. They have the ability to do more, without the need for laws.
‘These companies have it within their own technology, and things like algorithms, things like bots, things like age verification. What I hope we can do is have? genuinely constructive engagement here.’
The Tánaiste also hit out at left wing critics who ‘tried to shut me up? for simply raising legitimate questions about public policy and migration’.
He told Extra.ie: ‘We should not be afraid to have debate. I detest the far right. I know them well. They’ve stood outside my house in balaclavas. They threaten my family. So I don’t need a lecture from anybody on the left of Irish politics about the dangers of the far right.’
In a wide-ranging interview, the Fine Gael leader – who will assume his second stint as Taoiseach in November next year – also said he does not believe the very public leadership crisis engulfing Fianna Fáil has destabilised the Coalition, and that controversial attempts to rename Herzog Park in Dublin have caused ‘deep, deep, hurt’ to Ireland’s Jewish community.
* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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