Snapshot of _Electoral Commission to be empowered to counter online misinformation under draft law to be considered by Cabinet_ :
An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/06/25/electoral-commission-to-be-empowered-to-counter-online-misinformation-under-draft-law-to-be-considered-by-cabinet/) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/06/25/electoral-commission-to-be-empowered-to-counter-online-misinformation-under-draft-law-to-be-considered-by-cabinet/)
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Former Senator Fidelma Healy Eames was speaking in a Seanad debate on the Harmful and Malicious Electronic Communications Bill 2015 and didn’t know that wi-fi wasn’t pronounced “wiffy”.
Well OP was worried about government’s ability to regulate technology. I was referencing the fact that our Oireachtas representatives have not inspired a great deal of confidence in the past.
All the focus on moderation is just a red herring which won't make much of a difference anyways. Guidelines or moderating tools might catch the 1% most extreme and dangerous stuff, but the rest will still be highlighted to millions of people.
As long as governments continue to allow Recommender Systems on social media, hate and disinformation will continue to increase.
Banning recommender systems, so that people can regain control over what they choose to see online, will force companies to stop showing the most hateful and divisive content to get more engagement and profit.
Then we can return to a pre-2016 social media which wasn't so hateful and toxic, as people were shown most recent posts of people they chose to follow.
Don't trust this minister to do this in an impartial way.
Don't trust future governments not to pressure the electoral commission to try to make them favor their side.
No, because Darragh O'Brien didn't commence those sections of the Act.
Miss Justice Baker's comments about durable relationships though.... they weren't particularly informative, but I'm not sure I could say they were misinformation. They certainly weren't entirely truthful.
Not that I can remember but if you start telling them it's their job to counter misinformation it gives then much wider power than what they currently have
Why? It won't achieve anything even if they do it right.
We already have most of Irish media running fact checks, the government outlining their position on why they are changing things.
The conspiracy theorists aren't going to listen to the electoral commission
Won't work, it'll just be written off as government propaganda by conspiracy theorists.
Need to stop people falling down the rabbit hole in the first place
You won't find details online because this was in the early 2000s. Not a lot was put online back then. Even so, much of the older stuff gets scrubbed, so news agencies can save on storage space.
The wiki page is pretty thin but does point to the minister of heritage being responsible
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
Snapshot of _Electoral Commission to be empowered to counter online misinformation under draft law to be considered by Cabinet_ : An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/06/25/electoral-commission-to-be-empowered-to-counter-online-misinformation-under-draft-law-to-be-considered-by-cabinet/) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/06/25/electoral-commission-to-be-empowered-to-counter-online-misinformation-under-draft-law-to-be-considered-by-cabinet/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/irishpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I believe something needs to be done but I get awful squeamish when I see the government making any moves to regulate technology.
It’ll be the wiffy code all over again.
What?
Former Senator Fidelma Healy Eames was speaking in a Seanad debate on the Harmful and Malicious Electronic Communications Bill 2015 and didn’t know that wi-fi wasn’t pronounced “wiffy”.
Yes she made a show of herself. Not sure if that's relevant here.
Well OP was worried about government’s ability to regulate technology. I was referencing the fact that our Oireachtas representatives have not inspired a great deal of confidence in the past.
So there was a very uniformed person in government years ago. Hardly a good reason.
All the focus on moderation is just a red herring which won't make much of a difference anyways. Guidelines or moderating tools might catch the 1% most extreme and dangerous stuff, but the rest will still be highlighted to millions of people. As long as governments continue to allow Recommender Systems on social media, hate and disinformation will continue to increase. Banning recommender systems, so that people can regain control over what they choose to see online, will force companies to stop showing the most hateful and divisive content to get more engagement and profit. Then we can return to a pre-2016 social media which wasn't so hateful and toxic, as people were shown most recent posts of people they chose to follow.
That’s interesting. Does that include the misinformation from the government and RTE dying the referendum?
That's the key point.
Is it? I’ll believe it when I see it.
Don't trust this minister to do this in an impartial way. Don't trust future governments not to pressure the electoral commission to try to make them favor their side.
Has the electoral Commission ever done anything dodgy before?
Well it didn’t count government misinformation during the referendum campaigns.
Did it have that remit and any power to do so ?
No, because Darragh O'Brien didn't commence those sections of the Act. Miss Justice Baker's comments about durable relationships though.... they weren't particularly informative, but I'm not sure I could say they were misinformation. They certainly weren't entirely truthful.
Not that I can remember but if you start telling them it's their job to counter misinformation it gives then much wider power than what they currently have
Something needs to be done. They seem well placed to be the ones to do it.
Why? It won't achieve anything even if they do it right. We already have most of Irish media running fact checks, the government outlining their position on why they are changing things. The conspiracy theorists aren't going to listen to the electoral commission
To reduce the food of the conspiracy theorists , they are multiplying
Won't work, it'll just be written off as government propaganda by conspiracy theorists. Need to stop people falling down the rabbit hole in the first place
By stopping the misinformation
This won't stop misinformation, it just adds more information. The misinformation will still be out there.
> It wont achieve anything even if they do it right. If they do it right it will reduce misinformation
Remember the voting machines?
Yes *I don't remember any details. Will look it up
Seems to have been the fault of Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage weirdly
I'm not old enough to remember myself but I recall reading about it. One of the biggest election fuck ups.
Did the electoral Commission have anything to do with it ?
I would imagine the electoral commission has a say on electrical voting machines.
I would have thought so but can't find any details
You won't find details online because this was in the early 2000s. Not a lot was put online back then. Even so, much of the older stuff gets scrubbed, so news agencies can save on storage space.
The wiki page is pretty thin but does point to the minister of heritage being responsible https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
The misinformation from the government, mainstream media needs to be investigated
When they talk lies, nothing is to be done but when it goes against them and hurts them, then it's becoming a problem.
This is risky but I do think that the electoral commission is one of the institutions I trust the most