17 April 2025 — The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has criticised the Government’s new strategy against disinformation for failing to tackle the social media algorithms threatening our democracy.  

The National Counter Disinformation Strategy was published today [Thursday] following two years of discussion by a working group, of which ICCL was a member. But ICCL quit the group in August following Government refusal to include any concrete action to tackle dangerous algorithms.  

YouTube, TikTok and Instagram all use “recommender” algorithms to pick what each person sees in their feed. They monitor us to learn our intimate desires and fears, and use that insight to serve personalised feeds that keep people scrolling. Social media feeds tailored by big tech algorithms are now the primary source of information on political issues for Europeans aged 30 and under.  

“Foreign powers control the hidden levers of our public debate. U.S. and Chinese social media algorithms suppress trustworthy journalism, amplify some voices and censor others.”, said Dr Johnny Ryan of ICCL.  

Dr Ryan said “For more than a decade, big tech’s clumsy, revenue-optimised algorithms have accidentally pushed Europeans (and everyone else) to extremism, and pushed self-harm and suicide in to our children’s feeds. Now, with Trump in charge, Europe faces a new intentional algorithmic assault to boost authoritarians into power across the continent.  

“This is an urgent moment for Ireland and Europe, and it requires a bold response. But the Government has opted for more of the same.” 

This week in The Guardian, ICCL called on Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to press Ireland to switch off of US and Chinese big tech recommender algorithms across Europe. 

Polling by Ireland Thinks in January 2024 showed that 82% of the Irish public wants big tech’s toxic algorithms switched off. “Irish people believe they – not big tech algorithms – should have the freedom to decide what they see and share online for themselves,” said Dr Ryan.  

ENDS 

For media queries: ruth.mccourt@iccl.ie / molly.kavanagh@iccl.ie / 087 415 7162