Ireland's proposed overhaul of online political advertising could hamper the work of non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) and is too broad, Facebook and Twitter will tell an Oireachtas committee tomorrow. The social media giants are before the Housing Committee as part of pre-legislative scrutiny of the Electoral Reform Bill, a sweeping and long-awaited overhaul of Ireland's elections. Dualta Ó Broin, head of public policy at Facebook Ireland will say in his opening statement that Facebook has observed the progress on the bill with "some concerns at times" and the company would like to see a more "objective definition of online political advertising". "At a minimum, the legislation should take account of what online intermediaries, such as Facebook, can and cannot do. The bill also proposes to expand the Dáil to between 166 and 172 members — up from 160, due to population growth.

Source: Irish Examiner March 29, 2021 19:31 UTC