1578. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide an update on social media disinformation and combatting it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59637/26]

The National Counter Disinformation Strategy was published in April 2025. The strategy sets out 9 commitments and 36 actions to help counter this complex issue. It highlights the importance of strengthening people's resilience to disinformation, implementing and enforcing regulations, coordination and collaboration between stakeholders, promoting high-quality journalism and media plurality and conducting research in countering disinformation. A multi-stakeholder Steering Committee, supported by a broader Coordination Group, has been overseeing implementation since June 2025. Terms of reference, membership and minutes of meetings for the Committee and the Group are available on the Strategy web page located on gov.ie: [][National Counter Disinformation Strategy Implementation] https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-culture-communications-and-sport/publications/national-counter-disinformation-strategy-implementation/

The second progress update was published on the Strategy web page, located on gov.ie, in August 2026, detailing progress from December 2025 to end June 2026: [1._2060605_NCDS_Implementation_Update_Q2_2026.docx][] https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.gov.ie%2Fstatic%2Fdocuments%2F2ef10e46%2F1._2060605_NCDS_Implementation_Update_Q2_2026.docx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK

Implementation of the Strategy is being accelerated in 2026 with the disbursement of the €1.1 million in funding which I secured in Budget 2026 to support media literacy, research and fact-checking.

At the EU level, under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Commission is the lead regulator for very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs). The European Commission is supported by national level Digital Services Coordinators, such as Coimisiún na Meán. The EU Code of Conduct on Disinformation, under article 45 of the DSA, has been in place since July 2025 and focusses on transparency, accountability, and collaboration among stakeholders as well as empowering users, researchers and the fact-checking community.