RODERIC O’GORMAN HAS said that yesterday’s survey results from the Electoral Commission on conspiracy theories are “very concerning”.

The Minister for Integration called on social media companies to do more to combat the spread of conspiracy theories online, saying “they have a real responsibility not to allow this sort of misinformation permeate because it is dangerous”.

He also warned that there has to be an “obligation” on social media to adhere “closely” to the codes of conduct and guidelines issued by the Online Safety Commissioner.

The Online Safety Commissioner was appointed last year as part of a multi-person Media Commission to oversee online safety and is empowered to make binding Online Safety Codes that can hold online services, such as social media companies, to account for how they tackle the availability of harmful content online.

The Media Commission has a range of powers to ensure online services comply with the regulations, such as the power to appoint authorised officers to conduct investigations and issue content limitation notices, which restrict access to harmful content.

The Commission also has the power to sanction online services that fail to comply with the online safety codes, subject to court approval.

O’Gorman called the work of the Online Safety Commissioner “so important”, pointing to the damage that has already been caused in Ireland by misinformation and referencing the violence precipitated in the United Kingdom over the last few days.

The Minister was responding to a survey published yesterday by the Electoral Commission which found that almost a third of voters believe in a number of different conspiracy theories, such as the Great Replacement theory and secret medical trials on citizens.

The Red C opinion poll conducted on behalf of the Electoral Commission last June found that around 30% of voters believe that “a small secret group of people is responsible for making all major decisions in world politics”, while a similar percentage (31%) believe that there are ongoing efforts to marginalise certain groups of people through political policies.

Over a fifth of voters (22%) told the survey that they believed the establishment is replacing white people with non-white immigrants and that elected officials want more immigration to bring in “obedient voters”.

This conspiracy theory is more commonly known as the Great Replacement theory, a white nationalist, far-right conspiracy which claims white citizens are being replaced by non-white populations.