Tech giants resist attempts at regulation and sanctions
Facebook and Google have told the Government they do not want any new online regulator intervening in complaints about content on their platforms before their own internal review systems have been exhausted. They have also said they must be given a right of appeal, including access to the courts, if they disagree with a regulator’s decision.
Sanctions should only be applied to systematic failures to adhere to any proposed regulations or directions rather than individual breaches, they say. And they warn that introducing a legal definition of harmful content — as opposed to illegal content — will be fraught with difficulty because of the subjective nature of assessing what constitutes harmful.
They also say any new system must not overstep existing EU law which does not require companies to be legally responsible for dealing with harmful content that has not been brought to their attention. The social media giants set out their position in submissions to the Department of Communications as part of a public consultation on the regulation of harmful content online.
In total, 84 submissions were received from the social media and tech industries, other media companies, civil rights organisations, children’s charities, public bodies, the gardaí, suicide charities, support groups, and individuals.
Communications Minister Richard Bruton said the responses would help inform new laws being drafted to put in place a regulatory system and create a position of digital safety commissioner with powers to order the take-down of harmful content.
Earlier this week, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland proposed that it be allowed to take on the role of regulator, and while Facebook does not take a stance on this, Google backs the idea in its submission.
However, it says individuals should only be permitted to escalate their complaint to a regulator where the service provider has not responded to a take-down request within a reasonable timeframe or has declined to take down the content.
It says the individual must prove they gave all information for the service provider to act. Facebook says rules would must be agreed around the extent to which a complainant should be required to demonstrate actual ongoing harm.
