At Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil this afternoon, People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin if there is a criminal investigation into X over production of sexual abuse imagery. The Taoiseach did not answer the question.
Under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998 and the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offenses Act, 2020, the State can take criminal action against Directors and Officers of X, but the Taoiseach and the Government claim these are matters for the EU. However, yesterday French authorities raided X offices and summoned Elon Musk to court.
Paul Murphy said “At Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil this afternoon I asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin twice if there is a criminal investigation into X over production of sexual abuse imagery. The Taoiseach did not answer either time.
“It is outrageous that 5 weeks after we first learned of X mass producing sexual abuse imagery, including child sexual abuse images, we still don’t know if there is a criminal investigation into X, the corporation producing the abusive content.
“When this scandal broke in early January, Richard Boyd Barrett called for arrests of those in X who enabled the production of this sexual abuse imagery, but in the Dáil the Taoiseach scoffed at the idea and suggested that this would be like Orwell’s 1984. But in Paris yesterday, prosecutors raided the offices of X as part of their investigation into its creation of child sexual abuse images, and Elon Musk has been summoned to appear in court to answer questions.
“The Taoiseach and the Government have been hiding by claiming that this is a matter for the EU. But it’s very clear that under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998 and the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offenses Act, 2020 the State can take criminal action against X.
“But it is also clear that the Taoiseach and the Government are more concerned to be viewed favourably by Big Tech than they are to protect the public against the mass production of sexual abuse imagery. This is an appalling failure of the Government’s responsibility to protect the public.
“Today, anyone in Ireland can still create sexual abuse imagery through X using a virtual private network (VPN). X lied to Artificial Intelligence Minister Niamh Smith and to the Government when it claimed that Grok, as integrated on the X platform, had been disabled from removing or reducing clothing on individuals worldwide. The lies have been followed by X refusing to attend an Oireachtas committee meeting today to deal with these matters.
“It’s five weeks since X/Grok started mass producing sexual abuse imagery. X’s European Headquarters are just a five-minute walk from Government buildings but this afternoon the Taoiseach still wouldn’t answer if there is a criminal investigation into X.
“This is a disgrace. The kid glove treatment of X must stop and the Taoiseach must come clean and tell the people if there is a criminal investigation of X, and if not, why not.”