X, formerly known as Twitter, has described as "inaccurate" claims by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee that it did not engage with gardaí on the removal of posts relating to last month's riots in Dublin.
The platform's Global Government Affairs team said in a post that it has proactively taken action on more than 1,230 pieces of content under its rules relating to the riots.
"We met with the Coimisiún na Meán on November 24 to discuss our response," X said.
"The gardaí did not make any formal requests to us until late Monday 27th November. We responded promptly.
"The only appeal we have received from the gardaí relating to the enforcement of our rules is for a single post," the platform said.
This is inaccurate. We have proactively taken action on more than 1,230 pieces of content under our rules relating to the riots.
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) December 4, 2023
We met with the Coimisiún na Meán on November 24 to discuss our response. The Gardai did not make any formal requests to us until late Monday 27th… https://t.co/nHGMDg45Mu
X said Minister McEntee's statement to the Dáil last week that it had refused to engage was inaccurate and that it hopes she will clarify her remarks.
On Wednesday, the minister told the Dáil that while some social media companies were responsible during the unrest others were not.
"I spoke to a detective in Pearse Street on Saturday who was actively engaged with the social media companies throughout Thursday, who was actively engaged with TikTok, Meta or Instagram and Facebook and Twitter or X," Ms McEntee said.
"She said very clearly that social media companies, in particular TikTok and Meta, they were responding, engaging with gardaí and taking down these vile posts as they came up. X were not. They didn't engage. They did not fulfil their own community standards," Ms McEntee said in the Dáil.
The following day, she told reporters that she was seeking a meeting with X.
"When [X] did not take down content on Thursday it added to and I think fuelled some of what happened," Ms McEntee said.
"I would like to engage with them on what they plan to do moving forward," she added.
Today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that Ms McEntee has asked X for a meeting to discuss its response to the riots.
"I don't know if they've agreed to that meeting or not," he said.
"But I think you and I would be united in calling for them to agree to meet the minister so she could set out to them what was said to her by the gardaí," Mr Varadkar said to Sinn Féin TD Louise O'Reilly, who had asked for clarity on the issue.
As "most of us are active on social media", Mr Varadkar said, "I think we all know which platforms are good at implementing and respecting their own community standards, and which ones are not".
"And I'll let people draw their own conclusions in that regard," he concluded.
Ireland's media regulator Coimisiún na Meán said it, along with the European Commission, have continued to engage with social media platforms about their response to the unrest in Dublin.
"The platforms indicated that they responded quickly to the spread of illegal content on their services," Coimisiún na Meán said.
"However we remain concerned about the spread of misinformation and disinformation online, and its real-world impacts."
"We expect the platforms to remain vigilant to any use of their service that could lead to hatred or violence and report any evidence of criminal activity to An Garda Síochána," the regulator said.
This morning a spokesperson for Minister McEntee said she was relaying concerns directly raised with her by frontline gardaí who were working on the day of the riots.
"The minister will continue to engage with An Garda Síochána on these matters, and looks forward to directly engaging with X," the spokesperson said.
In a statement, Comisiún na Meán said it met with "platforms, including X, on the 24th November following the horrific stabbing incident in Dublin on the 23rd of November last".
The media regulator said that it "contacted the large platforms to alert them to the incident and raise concerns about the spread of violent imagery and incitement of hatred and violence online".
"Our enforcement powers under the Digital Services Act will be become fully effective from the 17th February 2024. As noted in our statement of the 1st December last, we continue to meet with these platforms, to learn more about procedures for dealing with disinformation and misinformation, and to ensure that when we become fully operational in February 2024, we can work effectively with the European Commission to keep people safe online."
'Role of social media'
Speaking on RTÉ News at One, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney has said that he was happy to engage with X on the matter of the Dublin riots as they are based here and have a big presence.
He said that there was a lot of concern that social media platforms were being used as a vehicle for far right activists to encourage division, anger and people to cause unrest in Dublin city centre.
Minister Coveney said: "We as a Government need to reflect on the role of social media platforms in the context of that kind of hatred and division and also inaccuracy often, which is the basis of that, playing on peoples' fears and anxieties.
"We had some very high-profile people including the owner of X, Elon Musk, as part of that conversation in a way which was very unhelpful to trying to restore calm".
He added that the justice minister reflected that and that he does not feel that she must correct the Dáil record, and the issue is how the different platforms engaged with Coimisiún na Meán, and the extent to which they engaged to take down material.
Mr Coveney said social media regulation will get more powers from 17 February 2024 onwards as Coimisiún na Meán will have the responsibility to regulate many social media platforms in Ireland and across the EU.
"They will have significant legal powers to fine companies heavily if they don’t take down dangerous or inaccurate material," he said.
