Representatives from industry, academia, political parties, the media, and civil society will come together today for the first Open Policy Forum on the regulation of online political advertising. The Government event will consider a range of important issues including advertising in the political or electoral sphere; freedom of expression, current regulatory frameworks and comparative approaches to regulation.
The event follows the first Report of the Interdepartmental Group on Security of Ireland's Electoral Process and Disinformation, which recognised the need to regulate political advertising. The Intedepartmental Group examined 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 Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton, TD, will officially open the Forum. The Minister of State for Local Government and Electoral Reform John Paul Phelan will also participate.
Today’s Open Policy Forum aims to identify and discuss policy solutions that respect the right to freedom of expression and relevant EU law while promoting the transparency necessary to open political discourse in a democracy that will protect electoral processes from hidden influences and disinformation.
Notes for editors:
The forum will be livestreamed on Merrionstreet.ie from 9am
Background:
The Government decided in December 2017, following consideration of the Online Advertising and Social Media (Transparency) Bill 2017, which was introduced by Fianna Fáil, to establish the Interdepartmental Group on Security of Ireland’s Electoral Process and Disinformation to consider the risks to Ireland’s electoral process.
The group’s 1st Report was published in July 2018 and included a number of recommendations 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.
The Report noted that these matters touch on very fundamental elements of our democracy, freedom of expression and the discernment of the will of the people. Therefore, any policy must be developed in open consultation with interested parties, Civil Society Organisations, academics, and the media so that all viewpoints are considered and that the solutions adopted enjoy wide democratic endorsement.
The key next steps, as agreed by Government on publication of the Report, included regulation of online political advertising. To progress this, the Department of the Taoiseach recently held a public consultation on the regulation of transparency of online political advertising. (Submissions to Public Consultation can be viewed here.)