Social media companies cannot be allowed to act like the “Wild West”, the Taoiseach has said after threats against him and his family were posted online.
A threat of violence against Simon Harris as well as his wife and children reportedly remained on Instagram for two days after gardai asked for its removal.
Speaking on Wednesday, he said: “It’s totally unacceptable that any media platform – digital, online, print – would allow a threat towards anybody remain for a significant period of time.”
He added: “We can’t have a situation where it’s seen as some kind of Wild West over there (on social media) that doesn’t come into contact with the same laws and enforcement that (a newspaper) would – this is a form of media.”
Mr Harris said Ireland would soon introduce new measures and financial penalties against social media companies in the range of tens of millions of euro, under an online safety code.
He said he was “very proud” of the work under way at media regulator Coimisiun na Mean, adding that Ireland was “ahead of many, many other European countries”.
He said binding measures could be put in place later this year that would “hit these companies where it hurts” if they fail to comply with the new rules.
Mr Harris said the codes would allow for financial penalties and also include measures to hold directors “personally responsible”.
He said: “The era of self-regulation of these companies is well and truly over. This will be the year in which there will be binding codes, financial sanctions and personal liabilities on social media companies – and that day can’t come quickly enough.”
He added: “If anybody in any social media company is dining out on or thinking that somehow or other Ireland won’t be robust in relation to this, they’re about to find out how extraordinarily wrong they just are.”
Elon Musk owns X, formerly Twitter (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)
Mr Harris said he will shortly convene a meeting of stakeholders to see what more Ireland can do on regulating social media, including through the European Union.
However, he said that threats made online are already illegal and added that perpetrators would “face the full rigours of the law”.
Meanwhile, the owner of X, formerly Twitter, has been engaged in a spat with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer following a series of violent riots.
Asked specifically about Elon Musk wading into the debate around the violence, Mr Harris said he did not want to “massage the ego” of any social media entrepreneur.
Pressed on the matter, he added: “Best of luck to him, you know, Elon Musk is a citizen of wherever and of the world – and that’s fine.
“My concern isn’t Elon Musk or (Facebook and Meta founder) Mark Zuckerberg or whatever their name is. My concern is the protection, safety and wellbeing of people in this country.”
Asked whether he believed there was a reason for increased violent behaviour and aggravated threats, the Taoiseach said: “I don’t believe that we should be looking for any kind of justification or logic behind anybody who threatens anybody else’s life – it’s a crime, it’s illegal.”
He added: “What I will say, though, is that this country hasn’t dramatically changed. We are a fundamentally good people. People right across Ireland are kind, they’re decent, we have a sort of politics that can be robust at times, but it’s generally respectful.
“There is a small number of people who seek to spew hatred and there is a small number of people who use social media and online media as a spawning ground for incitement to hatred.”
Mr Harris, whose family members have experienced masked individuals gathered outside their home, said: “Some of the media and political discourse around this does need to be checked too by all of us as a collective because when (the media) decide, and when (we as politicians) decide that people turning up outside somebody’s home wearing a balaclava is a protest, then I think we’ve lost all sense of what is and isn’t acceptable.
“And we run the risk of normalising things that should never, ever be normalised at all.”
He added: “What I have seen is a small number of bad actors who travel across the island, both parts of it now, seeking to whip up fear and frenzy and indeed, engage in behaviour that does put people’s lives and properties at risk.”