‘Low uptake’ among tech companies for illegal content reporting service

Hildegarde Naughton

Hildegarde Naughton, minister of state with special responsibility for civil and criminal justice, made the comments today as she welcomed the launch of Hotline.ie’s annual report for 2020.

Hotline.ie, established in 1999, allows members of the public to report suspected illegal content online, particularly child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The service received 10,583 reports in 2020, the third consecutive year that it received over 10,000 public reports.

Hotline.ie works with national and international partners in law enforcement and industry to ensure not only that CSAM is removed from the Internet, but also that the children within images may also be identified and safeguarded.

Alongside this “notice and takedown” referrals procedure, Hotline.ie also provides its members with expert advisory and assessment services for the operational handling and processing of harmful and potentially illegal content.

The Department of Justice hosted a webinar in January 2021 which was attended by representatives from tech companies based in Ireland, law enforcement officials, domestic and European policy experts and Hotline.ie.

However, Ms Naughton appeared to admit today that the webinar failed in its principal aim to encourage tech companies to join Hotline.ie

“Following the January 2021 online webinar for tech companies organised by the Department of Justice, it is disappointing to see a relatively low level of uptake of new corporate membership,” she said.

“As Hotline.ie supports a collaborative approach, serving as both a conduit between An Garda Síochána and industry members and as a knowledge hub for industry, it is a missed opportunity that a number of large online platforms situated in Ireland have not yet signed up to this national reporting service.”

Ms Naughton added: “The programme for government contains significant commitments to improve online safety and to protect children and vulnerable persons in particular.

“This will be done through the establishment of an Online Safety Commissioner, the preparation of Online Safety Codes, new regulatory powers to deal with harmful online content, and a focus on education.

“In Justice Plan 2021 the Department of Justice has committed strongly to continuing to address illegal content online by strengthening notice and take down mechanisms to ensure the swift removal of all forms of illegal content.”