We responded to a consultation on the new Online Safety Code proposed by the Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland new online regulator.
We shared our views that:
- The Coimisiún should be careful it does not imply that smaller sites are exempt from taking action to protect children online through what it says about “practicability”
- Terminology around age verification should be more clearly defined, and the distinction between “robust” and “effective” age assurance needs to be spelt out, and estimation should not be discounted when higher levels of assurance are needed e.g. for adult content.
- They should emultate Ofcom in the UK which has prohibited sites from promoting virtual private networks and other means of circumventing age assurance
- we welcome the commitment to transparency around age assurance methods by platforms
- the Coimisiún could benefit from refering to international standards such as IEEE 2089.1 and ISO 27566 when they are approved
- clearer endorsement of interoperability would be helpful
You can read our full response below.
Ireland Consultation Response 31-1-2024 (1)