Clare TD Calls For Ban Of Anonymous Profiles Online Amid Safety Concerns

Clare FM

A Clare TD is calling for protocols to be put in place to completely ban anonymous and unverified profiles and social media. It comes as the media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán is carrying out of review of online platforms to combat difficulties reporting illegal content online. As part of the review, An Coimisiún na Meán has reached out to companies such as TikTok, X, YouTube, Meta, LikendIn and Temu. The review is being carried out amid concerns that people are struggling to report content considered racist, inflammatory, abusive and harmful online. The issue has come in to sharp focus of late, particularly after content posted on X formerly known as Twitter ahead of the Dublin riots and racist comments posted about Irish athlete Rhasidat Adeleke following her performance at the Olympics. Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe believes anonymous profiles are to blame for the bulk of problems and insists measures such as document verification should be taken to ensure people are held accountable for their actions online. A study compiled by Dublin City University in June found that one in five people now rely on social media as their main source of news. According to a Clare Technology Expert, the large volume of posts on modern platforms and the growing use of Artificial Intelligence to regulate them is contributing to the problem. Pat Clarke Browne insists the threat of financial losses to companies will be the greatest incentive to clean up their act but he says greater a human presence is needed to enforce the rules online.