Taoiseach defends media regulation and says Ireland is ‘bastion of free speech’

Ireland makes “no apologies” over its media regulation, the Taoiseach has said, as he defended the need to protect children from harmful online technology.

Among a series of hearings on the EU Digital Services Act, the US House Committee on the Judiciary was told by one witness that Irish media watchdog Coimisiun na Mean (CnaM) was “ground zero” for a “lot of this regulation” in Europe.

CnaM is responsible for enforcing the Digital Services Act against a range of US technology giants which have European headquarters in Dublin.

Members of the committee were encouraged to use Irish-US relations to put pressure on the regulator.

Asked about the hearings on Monday, Micheal Martin said Ireland places among the top countries in indices that track freedom of speech, human rights, and freedom of assembly.

He told reporters in Washington DC: “But where we make no apologies is the need to protect children and the need to protect young people from the harmful effects of modern online technology.

“And in addition to that then, making sure that we protect democracy.”

Mr Martin said “there will always be people with different perspectives and different analysis”, but added: “One thing we’re not about is shutting down free speech. We believe in people’s right to speak.”

The Taoiseach said there was a need for simplification of regulation across Europe to focus on innovation in the space of artificial intelligence (AI).

He said: “Ireland is a bastion of free speech, freedom of assembly and democracy, that would be our position in respect of that.

“On regulation more generally, we do need simplification of regulation – and that’s acknowledged across Europe.

“And the European Union is focused at the moment on a series of omnibus regulatory measures which are designed to simplify and, in some cases, reduce regulation and to try and shift the balance more towards innovation.

“If you take the AI revolution at the moment, and there’ll be ups and downs in that journey, but essentially, the US and China are way ahead of everybody else.

“Their focus is very much on the innovation side, and Europe needs to rebalance its approach and focus to innovation, and really look critically at the regulatory framework that governs us.”