Well-established democracies around the world are struggling to deal with the issue of fake news. Part of the problem is that online political advertisements that are misleading or malicious can be purchased on social media platforms by third parties and targeted at specific audiences to maximise the damage that such misinformation can cause. In December 2017, following consideration of Deputy Lawless's Online Advertising and Social Media (Transparency) Bill, the Government established an interdepartmental group to consider the substantive issue of social media use by external, anonymous or hidden third parties.

A report published in July 2018 recognised the need to regulate political advertising. A public consultation closed in mid-October of last year. In December last year, the Government held an open policy forum on the regulation of online political advertising and finally, on 15 November of this year, the Government published proposals to regulate the transparency of online political advertising. The full report had not yet been published but the announcement is that a new law will be brought in to ensure elections held in this jurisdiction are free and fair and that they respect freedom of expression and access to legitimate and truthful information. We were promised that online political advertisements will be clearly identified as such.

The Taoiseach previously said that he had mixed feelings about the decision of Twitter to ban political advertising in response to the problem of misinformation. Last year, in a biography, it was claimed that he floated the idea of creating an anonymous social media account to comment positively on news. That might never have happened. Undoubtedly, the Taoiseach is well aware of the capacity of how social media can be gamed for political benefit.

I want to know whether the Government is serious about the announcement that online political advertising in this State will be regulated. He holds all the power in respect of whether that happens. He has the unique power of Taoiseach in being able to call and fix a date for a general election. He is also in charge of the Government's legislative programme. My question is simple and straightforward. Will the Government, and will the Taoiseach today, commit to having legislation in place to regulate online political advertising to ensure that this new law is fully in force in time for our next general election?

I thank the Deputy. When it comes to this area, what we are all striving to do is to balance the need and desirability for free speech, free expression and free association on the one hand with making sure that we do not have fake news and misinformation, whether it is online or in print. Misinformation and fake news is wrong whether it is online, in print or on posters. Many fake posters are appearing across the country, largely targeted at the Government but at others too.

I do not believe in an outright ban on political advertising, whether that is banning posters, print advertising or banning it online, but it needs to be properly regulated and made transparent so we know the source of any political advertising, who has paid for it and how it is being targeted. We set up an interdepartmental group on that point. The group identified that there is an obvious gap in the treatment of print broadcast media and online platforms when it comes to political advertising. That is something we need to change. It is easier to spread disinformation online because it is not properly regulated.

The current proposal is to regulate the transparency of online political advertising. We are committed to legislate as soon as we possibly can to mitigate this gap. The regulation of political advertising in the broadcast media is part of a wider regulatory framework for advertising. Advertising in the print media is subject to a self-regulatory code of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland. However, political advertising is not covered within the scope of this code. It is the view that overhauling the regulatory provisions across all platforms is therefore a significant piece of work that is best done by the electoral commission when it is established, in conjunction with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. In the meantime, it is our priority to press ahead with legislation to ensure that online advertising is properly regulated and transparent. We will progress that legislation as soon as we possibly can.

We have no commitment from the Taoiseach that it will be done in time for the next election. Is that his ambition at least?

I am genuinely concerned about the open use of racist, sexist and other bigoted language on social media by fringe political groups and movements. I had a conversation with somebody who is regulating that for one of the platforms and he told me one would be shocked at what is going on. They appear to have become bolder in recent months. I believe there is a real fear that this toxic rhetoric will encourage violence against people.

In the last local elections, I was pleased to see candidates from our new community standing for a multiplicity of parties and as Independents, but the sad truth is that many of them faced relentless attack of a racist nature online.

Does the Taoiseach agree we need this legislation? Will he give a commitment now that he will have it enacted or seek to have it enacted in time for the next general election?

I do agree. We made a Government decision on 5 November this year to do exactly as suggested, that is, to prepare legislation to require political advertising online to be transparent. However, our current estimate is that we will have the general scheme for quarter 2 of 2020. Whether that will be in advance of the election is undetermined. That is as quickly as the Department believes it can draft the legislation. We will do it as soon as we possibly can.

Separate to that, the Minister for Justice and Equality has launched a public consultation on the issue of hate speech. We have legislation already, the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, but everyone acknowledges it is quite old and needs to be updated to reflect modern times. Therefore, there are separate issues: political advertising, which needs to be properly regulated, and hate speech. The Minister for Justice and Equality is working on the latter, in particular, with a view to updating the legislation and making it much stronger.