Elon Musk’s X, TikTok and Meta’s Instagram have been ordered by Irish media regulators to take “necessary measures” to prevent terrorist content being platformed in order to comply with sweeping new online safety legislation.
The Irish media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, said it issued the ruling after its investigations determined that the social media networks were “exposed to terrorist content” due to weak processes.
Such rulings come when a network is subjected to at least two removal orders from EU competent authorities, usually the police, but sometimes a regulator, in the preceding 12 months.
Orders under the EU terrorist content online regulation usually require the removal of content within an hour of the order.
The Irish media commission gave the social media platforms 12 weeks to make “effective, targeted and proportionate” measures to stop terrorist content while at the same time respecting freedom of speech rights.
“TikTok, X and Meta (in respect of Instagram) will be obliged to take specific measures to protect their services from being used for the dissemination of terrorist content, and to report to Coimisiún na Meán on the specific measures taken within three months from the receipt of the decision,” it said in a statement.
Among the measures they must take are the inclusion in their terms and conditions of use provisions to address misuse of the platforms.
If the Irish commission deems the measures are not sufficient it can impose fines of up to 4% of global revenue.
The European Commission has opened a range of investigations into online platforms since the new Digital Services Act relating to online harms came into force but Ireland’s media regulator plays a particularly important role given the tech companies’ EU headquarters are all sited in Dublin.
The scale of the problem facing European regulators was highlighted in May when the European home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, revealed that more than 550 removal orders had been issued since the counter-terrorist online regulation came into force.
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Concern about terrorist content across many social media platforms has been heightened after the Hamas attacks on Israel last October and arrests in Germany relating to an alleged coup plot.
In September the Irish media commission said it had concerns that people were having difficulty reporting illegal content to online platforms and it would be launching a formal review of the reporting processes available to the public.