The UK Government is set to broker a deal with technological behemoths prior to the forthcoming elections, aiming to combat the escalating threat of disinformation. The upcoming electoral events, namely local, European and general elections, will take place within the coming year.
At the heart of this initiative, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan reached out to the representative assembly of some of Ireland’s most prominent technology multinationals. They sought discussions slated for later this month, underlining the damaging potential these threats pose to our democratic dialogue.
The Ministers are calling on the companies to pledge their commitment to a novel Irish Election Integrity Accord before the forthcoming elections. This follows the most protracted hiatus in the Irish state’s history from any national party political contest. The proposal was formally communicated to Technology Ireland by the Minsters.
New laws, both European and national, are either being introduced or are presently in force, with the intention of neutralizing the risk of online misinformation and disinformation during the electoral proceedings. Sections of the Electoral Reform Act, critical due to their introduction of novel duties for online platforms and ad purchasers, are yet to be initiated by the Government.
The proposed accord is envisioned as a guiding framework for the industry, they clarified. It will encompass aspects such as political advertising transparency and misinformation as per the obligations of the 2022 enacted Electoral Reform Act, EU guidelines, and act as a reiteration of the existing industry best practices.
The Department of Housing, in charge of electoral matters, has proposed an industry conference for the 24th of April at the Mansion House. The Electoral Commission or An Coimisiún Toghcháin is expected to lead the development of the accord. The Ministers’ correspondence indicated that the interval since the last national elections in Ireland has encountered an unprecedented growth in information threats posing risks to the democratic system.
They elaborated that both national unscrupulous actors and international meddling campaigns may now be potentially facilitated and fortified due to the evolution of generative AI models and a segmented social media environment.
In a discrete correspondence to An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the ministers indicated their intention to endorse a “set of standards for the industry and the state to adhere to, in order to protect our democracy during these critical forthcoming months”.
Marc Ó Cathasaigh, a Green Party TD, queried in Parliament last December as to why the fourth and fifth sections of the Electoral Reform Act had remained unimplemented. In reply, Mr O’Brien indicated that the European Commission had expressed doubts about whether several clauses in the fourth part were consistent with elements of the EU’s ecommerce directive.
Section four demands online platforms identify the text of an ad as political and provide a transparency statement, comprising details about the buyer and verification of whether micro-targeting of an individual played a part in the ad purchase, among other specifics.
Internet platforms will be obligated to maintain a record of political ads for a minimum of seven years, and also implement procedures to authenticate the identity of the buyer, in addition to other responsibilities that the buyer will be required to fulfil.
Last December, Mr. O’Brien stated that it would be essential to align section four with an EU proposal on the transparency and targeting of political ads, anticipated for formal adoption early this year. Following which, he suggested, his department would look into any necessary modifications to the uninitiated sections of the Irish Act.