ISD’s recent investigation revealed that threats to electoral integrity and misleading narratives proliferated on social media in the lead-up to the Irish election.

Several Irish outlets reported on the findings outlined in our investigation, conducted jointly with the Hope and Courage Collective, which detailed the “spoil the vote” campaign and its role in amplifying threats against politicians as well as anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-migrant rhetoric.

ISD Senior Analyst Ciarán O’Connor spoke to RTÉ about how this campaign’s success illuminates social media’s failure to protect its users.

“Platforms must ensure they are proactive and robust in enforcing their community guidelines relating to the kinds of electoral integrity this analysis has identified,” Ciarán said. “Yet, as has been documented in this and prior reports, platforms are repeatedly failing to meet this obligation.” 

The full articles are available on RTÉ and Irish Examiner.