Government committed to protecting elections from ‘malign or hidden interference’

The powers will allow An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Electoral Commission) to order social media platforms to take down misinformation, disinformation or material damaging to elections and also enable it to regulate political advertising online.

The provisions have not yet been commenced due to a “number of concerns” raised by the European Commission about Irish laws.

The department said new regulations on this issue had also been issued by the EU and the Irish legislation would now have to be amended to align with it.

It did not give an indication when the powers would be in place, and the priority will set by the next Government.

The powers are contained in the Electoral Reform Act 2022.

But before the Government could implement the provisions, they had to refer them to the European Commission to ensure they complied with internal market laws.

The Electoral Commission, which was only set up formally last February, did not have the powers for the local and European elections in June and had to rely on its informal powers.

It had hoped to have the provisions in place for the general election.

In a statement, the Department of Housing said: “Given the particular sensitivities around the integrity of elections and foreign interference, the Government is committed to putting in place a robust regime to provide for transparency in political advertising and to protect our elections against malign or hidden influence. 

“Part 4 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provides An Coimisiún Toghcháin with powers to regulate online paid political advertising during electoral periods while part 5 provides An Coimisiún with powers to investigate and monitor online disinformation, online misinformation and manipulative or inauthentic behaviour online during election campaign periods.

“These parts of the act have not yet been commenced, due to a number of concerns raised by the European Commission.” 

It said, in addition, an EU directive issued last March on the transparency and targeting of political advertising would apply throughout the EU on October 10, 2025, and part 4 of the act would now need to be brought into alignment with that.

It added: “The department is now considering the issues raised by the commission in its detailed opinion and will work with the Office of the Attorney General and the commission to address these issues over the course of finalising the drafting of the Electoral Reform (Amendment) Bill 2024.”