The information society

Online safety commissioner Niamh Hodnett is a world away from her time as a trainee in the ’90s in a practice with only one computer and dial-up internet. Sorcha Corcoran downloads the info

Online-safety commissioner Niamh Hodnett describes the first year of Coimisiún na Meán as “building the plane while flying it” and that it has felt like “ageing in dog years”, because so much can happen within any given month.

It’s a world away from when she was an apprentice solicitor in her native Wexford in the late 1990s, in a practice with only one computer and dial-up internet.

Established on 15 March 2023, Coimisiún na Meán is Ireland’s new regulator for broadcasters and online media. Its broad remit includes regulating online platforms based in Ireland and carrying out the previous functions of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

“Coimisiún na Meán is a start-up regulator, which is an unusual scenario. We had to get off to a standing start. There was huge public expectation that we had to deliver on our role straight away, so we couldn’t wait until we had hired everyone in to carry out our functions,” says Niamh.

“It has been a hugely exciting and challenging time so far. We have grown from having 40 to around 90 staff – including a recently appointed legal team – and hope to reach a total of 160 people by the summer.”

Safety dance

Core to Niamh’s responsibility so far has been the implementation of an online-safety framework in Ireland.

This has three parts: the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 (the basis for Coimisiún na Meán’s draft online safety code); the EU Digital Services Act, which became fully applicable on 17 February; and the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation, for which Coimisiún na Meán has been the competent authority since November 2023.

“We see these three legislative tools as the basic building blocks that needed to be put in place to move from an era of self-regulation to one of effective regulation. This period is a learning opportunity for everyone in this space, and we have a shared responsibility to make the online landscape safer,” says Niamh.

“Thirteen of the 21 large online platforms and search engines are based in Ireland. We have met them frequently to understand where they are on their online-safety journey, what measures they already have in place, and where there’s room for improvement. In January, all of the platforms came to our offices for a meeting as part of the Global Online Safety Regulators Network to discuss online safety with Technology Ireland.”

Coimisiún na Meán’s online-safety framework makes platforms accountable for how they protect users, especially children, from harm online and will be used to enforce rules about how online services deal with illegal or harmful content.

The receptiveness of online platforms to Coimisiún na Meán so far bodes well for future compliance with regulations, according to Niamh.

“There have been moments while our formal tools were not in place where we felt we had to act, and the platforms did cooperate and engage with us on those matters,” she says. “For example, on the morning of 23 November last year, we had been before the Task Force on Safe Participation in Political Life, discussing how disinformation and incitement to hatred online deters women in particular from taking roles in public life.

“After the incident on Parnell Square, we could see a pile-up beginning to start online and were concerned it could lead to incitement to hatred or violence.

“I contacted some of the platforms and they reassured me that they were implementing their incident-response plans. The following day, we engaged with the European Commission and met with the platforms together to understand their response to the riots. This was the first time the EU Digital Services Act had been invoked in this way in Europe.”

Digital bath

Signed into law in February, the Digital Services Act 2024 fulfils Ireland’s obligations under the EU regulation and designates Coimisiún na Meán as digital services coordinator and lead competent authority for the act. This means it can now enforce fines of up to 6% of worldwide turnover for non-compliance.

Coimisiún na Meán opened its user contact centre on 19 February to provide advice to users on their rights under the Digital Services Act and gather intelligence that will inform its supervisory and enforcement activities.

“Our role is not just about setting, supervising, and enforcing the ground rules, but also educating the public and all stakeholders on how we can be safer online. We partner with existing educational programmes such as Webwise to amplify their messages and supported Safer Internet Day on 6 February,” notes Niamh.

“That user-engagement role is really important in terms of media literacy, raising awareness about digital civility, and empowering parents and children to be safer online.”

Niamh expects the online-safety code to come into effect in the summer, which will allow Coimisiún na Meán to impose fines of 10% of worldwide turnover or up to €20 million, whichever is greater, for breaches.

Under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, it designated ten video-sharing platforms that would be covered by the code in December. The draft safety code proposes measures such as effective age verification and parental controls.

Its development involved a significant amount of consultation, including with a dedicated youth advisory committee established early-on to provide the ‘digital-native’ perspective.

“One of the first things we did as an authority was to publish a call for public inputs over the summer last year. Since being appointed, I’ve had invaluable opportunities to meet with children and young people, non-governmental organisations, government departments, and civil-liberty groups to listen to their views directly and the harms they were most concerned about,” Niamh explains.

“There was an overwhelming call for there to be an online-safety code to address these harms, which include cyber-bullying, incitement to hatred or violence, and promoting eating disorders or suicide.

“We took all of that together to produce a draft code in December, and the consultation on that closed on 31 January. Once we have assimilated all responses from the public in a thoughtful and considered way, we will engage with the European Commission through a notification process, which can take three to four months.”

Hand in glove

Niamh wants to work “hand-in-glove” with the European Commission on online safety. Her connection with Brussels goes back to the start of her career, when she worked in law firm Mayer Brown there for six years after qualifying as a solicitor in 1998.

“I was always interested in European law and regulatory law. I did a master’s at Universität Passau in Germany and eventually co-wrote books on the topics [European Law, published by Oxford University Press, and Regulatory Law in Ireland published by Tottel],” she says.

The various roles Niamh has held since returning to Ireland in 2003 have incorporated a range of experience relevant to her current responsibilities as online safety commissioner – it has been almost like the pieces of a jigsaw coming together.

Niamh’s most recent role was chief legal and regulatory officer at Premier Lotteries, the operator of the National Lottery. She was previously head of regulatory affairs at mobile phone company Three Ireland, a senior legal advisor with the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), a regulatory lawyer with An Post, and a member of the EU, competition, and regulatory law team at Matheson in Dublin.

“Two of my fellow commissioners, John Evans and Jeremy Godfrey, and legal director Judy O’Connell, worked with me at ComReg. A lot of what we’re doing at Coimisiún na Meán is similar. It’s positive, as we’re dealing with a new sector with very similar issues from a regulatory perspective,” says Niamh.

“During my time at Three Ireland, I was involved in putting in place a memorandum of understanding with An Garda Siochána in relation to internet service providers blocking child sex-abuse material. This included cooperation agreements with Interpol to block what’s known as the ‘Worst of’ list’.”

At the National Lottery, Niamh dealt with age verification in relation to online accounts to ensure there was no underage play, as this is an offence under the age of 18.

“This experience has been useful in terms of the draft online safety code, where we are proposing that platforms have robust age-verification measures in place. We won’t be mandating any particular form, but leaving it up to the platforms on how to achieve this in compliance with GDPR. A child simply self-declaring their age is not enough,” says Niamh.

Being asked to give a talk at one of the Law Society parchment ceremonies last year prompted Niamh to reflect on her career to date. “My reflection was that, if I had my time again, I would do law again and become a solicitor again – and not just because I met my husband in my class in Blackhall Place!

“Law is such an interesting course to study and you can go in so many, often unexpected, directions by becoming a solicitor – whether you’re in-house or in a private practice, in the public or private sectors, or work in different countries [all of which she has done].

“I think it is a really empowering qualification to get. To make the most of the career, I think it’s about finding out what you’re passionate about and get energy from and what drives you in terms of purpose. Coimisiún na Meán is very purpose-driven, which has really helped with recruitment.

“I feel huge privilege to be online safety commissioner – having the opportunity to work together with fantastic people to make a difference in creating a thriving, diverse, and safe online-media landscape.”

Sorcha Corcoran is a freelance journalist for the Law Society Gazette.

SLICE OF LIFE

Biggest influence? My parents. They instilled a good work ethic in me and the confidence to do the right thing. They are still my advisors.

Passions outside work? Spending time with family and friends. I have recently taken up the harp!

Favourite film? Stand by Me.

Guilty pleasures? Cheese.

Favourite music? Classical. Love the Wexford Opera Festival.

Social media use? I am on one platform and also use WhatsApp.

Any interest in sport? On a recent trip to France, I stayed on the beach while the rest of the family went to rugby matches.

What are you watching on TV? Nothing at the moment, too busy with work and parenting!