An analysis of millions of Irish social media posts has found a growing amount of 'mis- and disinformation'.
A new report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, also found Far-Right individuals and groups play a major role within the eco-system of mis- and disinformation.
The report - named ‘Uisce Faoi Thalamh’ analysed over 13 million posts on popular sites such as Facebook, Instagram, X, formerly known as Twitter, and Tik Tok, and more alternative sites like Gettr and Rumble.
The researchers warned social media companies are “not successfully enforcing their own community guidelines and there is a clear and obvious enforcement gap on platforms that allows false misleading or harmful content to survive”.
It said, discussions around health, war, immigration, and LGBT+ matters were among the main topics in the mis- and disinformation ecosystem.
The report warned of a “violent and threatening rhetoric” on some online discussions.
It also noted such posts fuelled some recent real life action including anti-lockdown, anti-migrant protests and demonstrations at public libraries.
