Ireland publishes Online Safety Code for TikTok, YouTube, and Reels
An Irish watchdog has devised and published an Online Safety Code for video-sharing platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram and Facebook’s Reels.
The code, published by media and internet watchdog Coimisiún na Meán, will apply to any video-sharing platforms headquartered in the country from next month, which includes ByteDance’s TikTok, Google’s YouTube, and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook Reels.
The Code states that platforms will need to have terms and conditions that ban uploads or sharing of a harmful content, including cyberbullying, promoting self-harm or suicide, and promoting eating or feeding disorders,as well as banning content that incites hatred or violence, terrorism, child sex abuse material (CSAM), and racism or xenophobia.
It’s intended as a stopgap to address content that might slip through the gaps left by the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), according to Coimisiún na Meán spokesman Adam Hurley. The DSA has been in place since February 2024 and is focused on illegal content, such as CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material), rather than the wider scope that the proposed Irish Code seeks to address.
“One of the thoughts behind the Online Safety Code is dealing with content which is more harmful rather than illegal,” Hurley told Tech Crunch. “What we’ve done is broaden the scope to harmful content that they must prohibit uploading of and then act on reports against those terms and conditions.”
“It’s a prohibition on uploading in their terms and conditions. So they have to prohibit the uploading of these types of content in their own terms and conditions, and then they’ll have to enforce those terms and conditions,” he added.
What does the Online Safety Code state?Other areas that Ireland’s Online Safety Code covers is requiring platforms to have a way to report harmful content, so that they can act in accordance with the aforementioned terms and conditions. EU law doesn’t allow for a general monitoring obligation on platforms, so this builds on the existing take down approach adopted by many social media platforms.
The Code also states that video platforms that allow for pornographic content or violence must employ age verification to ensure minors don’t access content inappropriate for their age. The regulator will assess appropriate age assurance measures on a case-by-case basis.
Ireland isn’t alone in wanting to address online child safety concerns, with the EU, Australia, and the US Senate all dealing with cases related to online safety.
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