Legal

‘Chilling effect’ on free speech under reformed Irish defamation laws, Twitter claims

Social media platform says it can’t be the ‘arbiter of truth’ in cases of alleged libel

Twitter, the Elon Musk-led social media giant, said it already takes action if posts violate its own rules. Picture: Getty

Twitter has claimed that proposed changes to Ireland’s defamation laws that would place the onus on online platforms to remove defamatory content could have a “chilling effect” on free speech.

In a submission to the Oireachtas Justice Committee last month, the social media platform said it cannot be the “arbiter of truth” in cases of alleged libel and that it would be “inappropriate” for it to remove content in this regard.

The committee is currently ...