Election watchdog has no powers to order social media sites to take down political misinformation
Electoral Commission statement said a 'fundamental principle' of any election in Ireland is that the citizens have confidence in the democratic process, the electoral process information they receive and trust the result.
The Electoral Commission still does not have the legal power to order social media platforms to take down misinformation or material that is damaging to the election system.
The commission, An Coimisiún Toghcháin, is also awaiting statutory provisions to enable it regulate online political advertising, including on major social media sites.
The shortfalls come just days before polling day on Friday, which is the busiest day for the commission, and other State bodies, in ensuring there is minimum interference with voting or with the integrity of the system.
The necessary powers are contained in the Electoral Reform Act 2022, but have not been enacted, primarily because the Government has to go through a regulatory process with the European Commission.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin did not have the powers for the local and European Parliament elections in June, but had hoped to have them for the general election.
Scroll for results in your area
In the absence of the legal powers, the commission is reliant on informal powers.
In a statement, the commission said: “Part 4 (Regulation of online political advertising) and Part 5 (Regulation of electoral process information, online electoral information and manipulative or inauthentic behaviour) of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 have not yet been commenced, and we understand that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage who are responsible for this legislation is continuing its coordination with the European Commission on this.”
The statement said a “fundamental principle” of any election in Ireland is that the citizens have confidence in the democratic process, the electoral process information they receive and trust the result.
“An Coimisiún Toghcháin has been active through this general election campaign in running our own public awareness campaigns to highlight these issues to voters directly, as well as the need for each of us to identify our own trusted sources of information for any issues associated with the election,” it said.
The statement said it had also published a framework on content specific to the general election, setting standards expected of parties, candidates and social media.
The commission said it also engaged with the Broadcasting Commission, the National Cyber Security Centre and An Garda Síochána: “An Coimisiún, has since our establishment in February of last year, had regular and ongoing engagement with relevant stakeholders around election security and integrity, and to date there is no suggestion of anything significant in respect of specific threats to Ireland’s democratic landscape, but maintained vigilance is key.”
The reported just over a week ago the National Cyber Security Centre had assessed as “medium” the cyber threat to candidates and political parties during the election campaign. It assessed the same level of risk from interference or disinformation by hostile states.
