The United States State Department has told Gript that it held “productive meetings” in Dublin last week where officials from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor visited the capital.
A spokesperson for the State Department said these talks were held to “underscore the [Trump] administration’s support for freedom of expression and the ability of all voices to be heard in the political process and to learn more about the Irish government’s approach to protecting human rights.
It said the officials held “productive meetings with a wide range of government officials and civil society representatives.”
The move comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a blistering speech saying that those who seek to “undermine the rights of Americans” will no longer be tolerated.
Topics of discussion included concerns related to Ireland’s position as a major tech hub in the context of the Digital Services Act and how the potential for this to lead to global censorship that would affect the rights of US citizens.
Also on the table was the European Commission’s insistence that Ireland implement hate speech laws under pain of being referred to the European Court of Justice, the power of Coimisiún na Meán, as well as exclusion zones around abortion facilities prohibiting protests.
The EU’s introduction of the Digital Services Act is understood to be a source of particular concern for US tech giants based in Ireland who fear they will be the subject of limitations on freedom of expression under the EU’s new framework.
As Gript previously reported, X Corp is suing the Irish media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, over its online safety code which X believes is “overly prescriptive” and “overreaching”
The online safety code was developed in the wake of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act (2022) being enacted, and was intended to give effect to obligations on the State set out in the European Commission’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).
It obligates video-sharing platforms under the jurisdiction of the State “to protect people, especially children, from harmful video and associated content” or face fines of up to €20 million or 10% of the platform’s annual turnover, whichever is greater. The companies who will be obliged to comply with the code or face hefty fines include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit.
After a query from Gript, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications confirmed that it has not conducted any analysis or research into the potential free speech impact of misinformation and disinformation regulations such as The Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 created by Coimisiún na Meán.
It stated, “The Department has not undertaken any analysis or research on the potential impact of mis/disinformation laws on free speech.”
The confirmation comes as Taoiseach Micheál Martin defended the Government’s efforts to regulate misinformation, telling Gript outside Government Buildings this week that “it’s not freedom of speech, really, when it’s just a blatant lie and untruth, which can create a lot of public disquiet, as we have seen.”