A WORKING GROUP has been established to counter disinformation and develop a new National Counter Disinformation Strategy for Ireland.

The multi-sectoral group will aim to combat disinformation and reduce the creation and spread of “false and harmful material”.

The group is being coordinated by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media and comprises industry stakeholders, academics, civil society groups and other Government departments.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, the Press Ombudsman, Media Literacy Ireland and the Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo) are also part of the working group.

The group will also aim to create measures to support innovations in fact-checking and disinformation research, as well as build relationships between social media platforms and academic researchers to prevent the spread of disinformation.

It will also examine coordinated campaigns of manipulation of Irish internet users and work to ensure transparency about how content is moderation.

A public consultation will be carried out as part of the development of the National Counter Disinformation Strategy, with the group aiming to publish the final strategy by the end of the year.

The group will be chaired by Martina Chapman, an independent media literacy consultant and the national coordinator of Media Literacy Ireland.

The establishment of the group was recommended by The Future of Media Commission report, which called for a more coordinated and strategic approach to combating disinformation.

Published in July 2022, the report also recommended the development of a National Counter-Disinformation Strategy to “enhance trust and protect the safety of Irish users of global content platforms”.

The report carried The Journal’s ongoing FactCheck initiative as a case study of best practice for countering the rise of misinformation and disinformation.

Concerns

It comes amid an increase in anti-refugee protests taking place around the country and false claims being spread online.  

The Journal has debunked several claims made in relation to asylum seekers, including claims that a row of buses which appeared in a video shared online showed “5 bus loads of migrants in Santry/Ballymun”, and that a leaflet telling “girls” to stay indoors was distributed by the Irish government and the Irish Centre for Diversity.

TDs are said to be concerned about misinformation being spread in their constituencies about refugees and asylum seekers. 

TDs who spoke to The Journal said they want to play their part in countering misinformation that is being spread in their community, but without factual information being provided by the Integration Department, they are running into trouble. 

One described a rumour going around that a certain building was going to be used to house refugees, but when they contacted the department to check if that was the case, they were told it wasn’t. However, a number of weeks later, the building was repurposed for asylum seekers. 

“That damages trust,” they said, adding that when politicians go back on their word, it damages their reputation as a reliable source of information.

Immigration is not the only topic to attract disinformation online. Over the last two years, disinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccines surged and was shared widely online.

Disinformation about climate change and the war in Ukraine has also been shared online.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin has welcomed the establishment of the working group.

“We know that disinformation is complex and damaging. This means that no one approach can solve it,” Martin said.

“That’s why this working group has been established – to bring together key stakeholders across Government, industry, academia and civil society to develop an overarching Strategy to promote a joined-up approach that aims to reduce the creation and spread of false and harmful material.

“Amongst other things, the Working Group will look to review existing media literacy initiatives, identify tools and mechanisms to address disinformation and identify ways to better coordinate national efforts to counter organised campaigns of manipulation of internet users in Ireland.”

The group is set to meet for the first time on 24 February.