TikTok before Media Committee over illegal activity posts

The social media giant TikTok is to launch a staunch defence of its policies around the posting of illegal criminal activities on its platform when it appears before the Oireachtas Media Committee today.

In her opening statement, TikTok's Head of Public Policy and Government Relations Susan Moss will outline how TikTok removed thousands of videos that "could cause significant physical harm including promoting risky driving" in the first half of the year, with 99.6% removed before any user reported them and 89.9% within 24 hours of publication.

This afternoon's hearing follows a crash on the M9 in Co Kildare last month in which five teenagers were killed when the car they were travelling in, which was going the wrong way down the motorway, crashed into another car. Three women and a child who were travelling in the other car were seriously injured.

The social media platform - which has its European Headquarters in Dublin - was initially reluctant to appear before TDs and Senators, citing the Garda investigation into last month's incident as well as a Coimisiún na Meán examination of social media content around it. However, it subsequently revised this position.

"We recognise the very real concern about content which glorifies or encourages dangerous and illegal behaviour, and the potential for such content to normalise these activities. The recent events on our roads have brought that concern into sharp focus. We understand the profound impact these events have had on those directly affected, and on the wider community," Ms Moss will state.

However, TikTok says it alone cannot take responsibility for dangerous activity which makes its way onto the platform.

"Content moderation can address what appears on a platform, but it cannot on its own address the underlying causes of criminal or dangerous behaviour. That requires a broader cross-societal response," Ms Moss will tell TDs.

"And while platforms have a responsibility to ensure they are not facilitating or amplifying criminal behaviour, responsibility for an act of criminality ultimately rests with the individual who chooses to commit it. That does not however diminish the responsibility we have as a platform to ensure we are doing everything we can to prevent our services being used to promote or facilitate that behaviour," the opening statement reads.

Separately, the media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán will tell the committee how it has six open investigations into potential breaches of online safety rules by social media platforms.

"We are collaborating with the European Commission on another four. We also have an on-going project to improve illegal content reporting mechanisms on platforms, so that people can effectively exercise their rights under the law," says Jeremy Godfrey, Executive Chairperson at Coimisiún na Meán, in his opening address.

Google will also defend its policies around harmful content when appearing before TDs and Senators, with its Public Affairs and Public Policy Manager in Ireland, Ryan Meade to state how its enforcement policy is "rapid, scaled, and highly proactive".

"In the first quarter of 2026, over 98.5% of the videos removed from YouTube were first detected by our automated systems. Crucially, by removing content before it gains traction, we systematically prevent harmful material from finding an audience. By way of example, in the first quarter of 2026, over 86.5% of the videos we removed had ten views or fewer," Mr Meade will state in his opening statement.