University of Galway’s media discipline head welcomes new Online Safety Code

By Chiara Alfieri

The University of Galway’s Head of the Discipline of Journalism and Media, Tom Felle, has welcomed the official adoption of the Online Safety Code. 

The code, published by Coimisiún na Meán, marks an important step towards sanctioning EU-based social platforms in Ireland that fail to carry out adequate controls to prevent online harm.

From now on, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit will have to comply with the new rules. Failure to do so could result in fines of up to €20m or 10 per cent of a platform’s annual turnover, whichever is greater.

Although these measures are an important step towards raising awareness for the correct use of social platforms, many concerns still remain.

Tom Felle reflected on the problems still very much present, while acknowledging the impact of the measures taken.

“Social media regulation is still very much the wild west—there are some rules, but enforcement is patchy, and the platforms themselves often evade accountability.

“Social media platforms are playing an increasingly central role in shaping public discourse, but the spread of harmful content, particularly targeting vulnerable groups, remains a significant challenge,” he noted.

Mr Felle emphasised his optimism in recognising the potential of the code, but stressed the importance of strong implementation.

“The new Online Safety Code is a positive step toward holding platforms accountable, but we must ensure its enforcement is robust enough to address the scale of the issue.

“The new code is a welcome step, but unless it comes with billion-euro fines for breaches, tech companies won’t feel pressured to clean up their platforms,” he warned.

“Stronger protections for children, transparency about how algorithms work, and serious efforts to curb the spread of misinformation and disinformation are all essential if we’re going to make these platforms safer,” he stated.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media Catherine Martin (TD) hailed the code as a landmark achievement. “I welcome Coimisiún na Meán’s adoption of its first Online Safety Code.

“It introduces real accountability for online video-sharing platforms and requires them to take action to protect those that use their platforms. It will make all of us, but particularly our children, safer online,” Minister Martin stated.

Among the main measures outlined in the code are sound guidelines for the proper handling of complaints and mandatory age verification to ensure maximum user protection.

These key elements only highlight the need for increased supervision to tackle online disinformation, hate content and child abuse as much as possible.