The Government's to start the search for an Online Safety Commissioner to oversee complaints about social media companies.
Culture and Media Minister Catherine Martin today got the Cabinet green light to push ahead with new online safety and media regulation laws.
Companies that fail to comply with an online safety code could face fines of up to €20 million or 10% of turnover.
However, Minister Martin says companies that repeatedly breach the rules could see their services blocked in Ireland.
The proposed legislation will establish a new regulator called the Media Commission, which will oversee the likes of broadcasting and video-on-demand regulations.
It would take on the current functions of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, with their powers extended to cover streaming services such as Netflix.
It will also include an Online Safety Commissioner to "devise binding online safety codes that will set out how regulated online services, including certain social media services, are expected to deal with certain defined categories of harmful online content on their platforms".
'Harmful online content' would include the likes of online criminal material, cyber-bullying and posts promoting self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.
However, whether individuals will be able to make submissions to the Commissioner has yet to be decided.
Minister Martin says there will be strict sanctions for companies that breach rules around harmful content.
She said: "It's €20 million or 10% of the turnover - whichever is higher.
"If they continue to be non-compliant, individual executives could be found criminally liable. The sanctions could go up to blocking the service in Ireland."
The recruitment process for the Online Safety Commissioner will now get underway.
Meanwhile, the overall bill will go through pre-legislative scrutiny to examine the practical and legal issues around the proposals.
