Regulation ‘not realistic for fake news’
Minister Denis Naughten said that while he and his cabinet colleagues are working on plans for an online content watchdog, it would focus on protecting the individual from offensive material and could not realistically police the wider problem of bogus news reports.
“I don’t think it’s possible to regulate. It would be so resource-intensive, it would be completely unwieldy,” he said. “The best way to deal with fake news is to try and support reliable content.”
The minister acknowledged that there are major difficulties for the press and broadcasters competing against the digital media giants.
“How do you get access to reliable information, particularly in an age now where one in every two people use online platforms as their sole source of news content?
You have standards in the print media that, as a result, filter into the digital side of the industry, but where you have organisations that don’t come under the control of the Press Council those standards don’t apply. It is a huge challenge for us all.”
Mr Naughten spoke at the publication of the Press Council’s annual report where Council chairman, Seán Donlon, also warned of the risks posed by content on digital media for which no-one was accountable.
He cited the rapid spread on social media of a story last November which claimed there had been 16 suicides in Cork in 16 days. “There were three in the period concerned, not 16, but it took quite a lot of effort to get that report removed,” he said.
Even more disturbing, he said, was the video posted on Facebook and viewed thousands of times of the late Dara Quigley who was filmed naked and in distress on a Dublin street. She took her own life days later: “The press is independently regulated, broadcasters are regulated by legislation but digital is subject to no regulation and no oversight. They can and they do carry through their Irish subscribers offensive, inaccurate and inappropriate content. These people are a threat to the integrity of the media and the freedom of the press. In some instances, democracy is threatened.”
The 2016 report showed 261 complaints were received about member publications but only 23 went to a decision by the Press Ombudsman, most being resolved with the publication, withdrawn or deemed inadmissible.
Nine of the 23 were upheld, mainly because of breaches of the principles regarding the coverage of children, privacy, truth and accuracy and fair procedures.
Seán Donlon said it is disappointing that some complainants went straight to the courts rather than use the Press Council procedures.
“I’m also concerned at the number of legal actions and threats of legal actions that are being taken by individuals and companies who know that their pockets are deeper than the pockets of many of the newspapers they are challenging.”
Press Ombudsman Peter Feeney said he feels the news industry may have reached a turning point where the public, wary of online sites, begin shifting their trust back to traditional media.
