X, formerly known as Twitter, has defended its response to the Dublin riots in November 2023.
Representatives from the social media company appeared before a private session of the Oireachtas Media Committee this afternoon.
X had declined an invitation to a public hearing to discuss online safety, disinformation and media literacy, and instead had asked to meet with the committee in private.
In an opening statement, the company said that as soon as it became aware of the stabbing attack in Parnell Square in November 2023 it conducted a proactive sweep of its platform to find content in violation of its rules.
"As a result, we proactively took action on more than 1,230 pieces of content under our rules relating to the riots between 24 to 28 November," according to the opening statement.
X said that in Ireland, between August and October 2023, it took action on 1,164 pieces of content and 27,114 accounts for violation of its rules, with 18,735 accounts engaged in manipulation and spam.
"We have also taken action on 964 pieces of content reported to us by the authorities in Ireland," X said.
The platform, which is owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, was criticised for its response to the Dublin riots with the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee saying at the time that X's failure to take down content fuelled some of what happened.
Ms McEntee also accused X of failing to engage with gardaí on the removal of content.
on the removal of content (File pic: RollingNews.ie)
In response, the platform described her comments as "inaccurate" and said it hoped the Minister would clarify her remarks.
Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne, who is a member of the Oireachtas Media Committee, said that during today's meeting, X representatives confirmed that they are actively monitoring for disinformation in the context of forthcoming referendums and elections.
They also committed to adhering to the terms of Ireland's new hate speech legislation, if and when that is enacted.
However, Senator Byrne expressed concerns about the structure of the platform's algorithms and about a sharp fall in content moderators working at X.
"I was alarmed when they confirmed to me that the number of human content moderators globally has dropped from 5,500 in November 2022 prior to the Musk takeover to 2,500 now," Senator Byrne said.
"While the engagement was welcome, I am not convinced on foot of it that X is seriously committed to tackling disinformation nor some of the worst forms of hate speech on the site," he added.
