An Irish MEP is calling on the European Commission to examine if Meta's new content policy is against laws.

Maria Walsh is raising concerns about a section which allows users allege an LGBTQ+ person is mentally ill.

It was among parts of the policy that were changed earlier this month.

Fine Gael MEP, Maria Walsh, is calling on the EU to check if it breaks laws, and act swiftly if it does.

“From my side, I have to urge [people] that we are applying as much pressure as we can and making sure the commission is adhering to and implementing what we designed and created to protect users online,” she said.

"Deciding they know best"

Maria Walsh is also concerned about the damage done to people's mental health by this language.

“I can't imagine the years, the decades of fighting to protect LGBTQIA+ community members is now up in force or up in arms and we need to make sure that the equality that has been so hard fought is not quickly lost based off a couple of handfuls of tech giants deciding they know best,” she said.

On Newstalk Breakfast earlier today, a former Meta employee said that the company is wilfully failing to protect children from violent and harmful content.

Meta response

A Meta spokesperson responded to the former employee's claims in a statement:

“There is no change to how we treat content that endangers children or content that encourages suicide, self-injury or eating disorders," a Meta spokesperson said.

"Our commitment to providing teens with safe, age-appropriate experiences remains the same, and we recently announced that we’re reimagining the Instagram experience for tens of millions of teens with new Teen Accounts, a protected experience, guided by parents, that automatically limits who can contact teens and the content they see.”

File photo of MEP Maria Walsh, 23-03-2019. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews