THE SPREAD OF disinformation online has prompted abuse against public figures; attacks against gardaí; and buildings to be set alight, a Gardaí expert told an Oireachtas committee on online disinformation today.

“Recent examples include false claims that properties are to be used as accommodation centres and are subsequently targeted in arson attacks,” Garda Assistant Commissioner Cliona Richardson told a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, highlighting that these attacks could seriously harm or kill people, such as security guards or construction workers.

“Gardaí are continuing to investigate a number of arson attacks and attempts to damage buildings that were falsely rumoured to be intended for use to house migrants, as well as some buildings that were in-fact intended for use as refugee accommodation,” Richardson said.

Richardson also confirmed that protests at a hotel near Celbridge, as The Journal reported, were prompted by false reports of a sex crime.

“Another recent example includes the allegations of a sexual assault on a child by a number of men residing at an accommodation centre in Kildare, which were completely untrue,” Richardson told the committee.

“These false rumours were widely circulated and also shared by a number of agitators.

“Following the posting of comments on social media, a group of protesters gathered at a hotel housing migrants in Kildare, during which Gardaí were verbally abused while also being targeted with fireworks and other missiles.”

Richardson noted that any gardaí who have to police a protest spurred by misinformation have to be taken away from working somewhere else.

She also warned of “online abuse from members of the public including politicians, celebrities, journalists” that were instigated by disinformation, often featuring threats.

The committee was also told that the Gardaí have limited powers to address or investigate much of the spread of disinformation.

“As more and more social media platforms transition towards the use of end-to-end encryption it is becoming increasingly difficult for law enforcement and prosecution agencies to process requests for disclosure on accounts used to post abusive or hatred-inciting disinformation online,” Richardson said.

“The end product of this focus on privacy by social media companies is that the perpetrator of crime is afforded more protection than the victim with a readymade platform to pursue their activity or spread disinformation, with significant access barriers created for them to hide behind.”

Richardson said that most companies the Garda dealt with were cooperative, though Gardaí needed to show that there was a crime committed before they could make an official request. In some cases where the companies are headquartered overseas, legally accessing evidence can be delayed by a year or more, she said.

The committee also heard from Jeremy Godfrey, the Executive Chair of Coimisiún na Meán, the media regulator. When asked about a test held by Global Witness to see what platforms would approve ads with election misinformation, Godfrey said that they intended to use “mystery shopper”-type probes to test if social media companies were compliant with rules.

Godfrey also said that the commission was investigating moratorium rules that prevent broadcasters from reporting on elections ahead of voting to see if they should be amended or abolished. The rules currently do not apply to online publications. Godfrey hoped the review would be finished in time for the next election.

Godfrey also noted that sexual images being shared without a person’s consent, whether real or falsified, was illegal and that Coimisiún na Meán would work with victims to get online services to take them down.

The committee was also warned that new Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models could regress efforts on tackling misinformation “back to where we were in the 1990s, with a whole new set of technologies, and a set of fairly small group of companies that are going to monopolise these technologies,” Eileen Culloty, deputy director of the DCU Institute for Media, Democracy, and Society, told the committee.

“Powerful actors have always weaponised disinformation and used it for financial gain, political influence, and social notoriety,” Martina Chapman, Independent Chair of the National Counter Disinformation Strategy Working Group said.

“What is new is how the attention economies of online platforms are able to propel disinformation faster and further than ever before, aided by personal data and algorithmic systems which can exploit the fears and concerns of people to hijack and distort democratic, public debate”

The lines between untrue, harmful, and illegal content were repeatedly emphasised throughout much of the expert testimony given.

“It is not always possible to establish clear-cut facts and some issues are fundamentally matters of ideology and opinion,” Chapman said. “In a free society, people are entitled to express and believe things that are incorrect.”