Tech

Online safety commissioner may need up to 5,000 staff and €407m budget

The watchdog will act on complaints about inappropriate content across the EU if social networking services are ‘ineffective’ in dealing with them, according to an official report

Catherine Murphy, Minister for Culture and Media: expert group said that the online safety commissioner had to be appropriately staffed and resourced. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The state’s new online safety commissioner may require up to 5,000 staff and an annual budget of €407 million in a worst-case scenario, according to an official report.

The online watchdog will have the power to issue “take down” orders to social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Instagram if they are found to be publishing inappropriate online content by users.

The online safety commissioner will be dealing with cyberbullying complaints not ...