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Report finds that risks to the electoral process are relatively low

The Government today published the first Report of the Interdepartmental Group on the Security of Ireland’s Electoral Process and Disinformation.
The Government decided in December 2017 to establish an interdepartmental group to consider the risks to Ireland’s electoral process. In particular the group was tasked with looking at the substantive issues arising from recent experiences in other democratic countries with regard to the use of social media by external, anonymous or hidden third parties.

The Report looks at issues concerning the security of the electoral process, taking into account risks that apply across the whole process. It also includes a summary of the most common or frequently occurring factors in other jurisdictions.

Overall, the Report finds that risks to the electoral process in Ireland are relatively low, taking into account the mitigation factors already in place. However, the spread of disinformation online and the risk of cyber-attacks on the electoral system pose more substantial risks. This aligns with EU Commission findings and recent international experience.

The Report identifies a number of proposals to address the gaps identified and offer a way forward on a more cohesive and coordinated approach to safeguarding of the electoral process from disinformation and security risks. It acknowledges that actions arising from such proposals will require widespread support from both political and civil society.

The key next steps, as agreed by Government, are to expedite the establishment of an Electoral Commission and to regulate transparency of online political advertising. This will build upon some of the principles proposed in the Online Advertising and Social Media (Transparency) Bill by Deputy James Lawless and recent discussions in the Dáil and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment. These matters are to be considered, in the first instance, by way of an Open Policy Forum involving relevant stakeholders across industry, academia, political parties, the media, and civil society.