Ireland’s social media regulator was sent material by the U.S. State Department claiming there was “an aggressive campaign against Western civilisation itself” ahead of a meeting on freedom of expression.
Two representatives of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States government met with Coimisiún na Meán in late May to learn about the work of the regulator.
In advance, the U.S. officials forwarded provocative material with one article saying they were heading to Europe to “fight for free speech.”
A second article – written by Samuel Samson, one of the American attendees – was also forwarded in the days before the meeting.
It said that across Europe, governments had weaponised political institutions “against their own citizens and against our shared heritage.”
An email ahead of the meeting said the article, published in a State Department magazine, was about the need for civilisation allies in Europe and “may be of interest.”
In the piece, Mr Samson wrote: “Far from strengthening democratic principles, Europe has devolved into a hotbed of digital censorship, mass migration, restrictions on religious freedom, and numerous other assaults on democratic self-governance.”
The piece claimed that in the United Kingdom, police were “arresting Christians” for silent protests outside abortion clinics.
It said that the European Union’s Digital Services Act was being used “to silence dissident voices through Orwellian content moderation.”
The article added: “Americans are familiar with these tactics. Indeed, a similar strategy of censorship, demonization, and bureaucratic weaponization was utilized against President Trump and his supporters.
“What this reveals is that the global liberal project is not enabling the flourishing of democracy. Rather, it is trampling democracy, and Western heritage along with it, in the name of a decadent governing class afraid of its own people.”
Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM) had originally refused to release the documents saying they could compromise the international relations of the state.
The article from Mr Samson was at first redacted in full and was only disclosed following an appeal under Freedom of Information laws.
In June, CnaM publicly said the U.S. State Department officials had neither sought any changes nor expressed any concerns about their work at the meeting.
However, the internal records make clear the agenda of the two representatives from the United States government.
Two days before the meeting, the U.S. officials forwarded one article which directly referenced Ireland and laws in place to tackle social media misinformation, hate, and illegal content.
A U.S. State Department official was quoted in the piece saying: “It’s obviously being weaponized, for political purposes.”
On the same day, they also asked CnaM to take note of the longer article on the need “for tangible actions by European governments to guarantee protection for political and religious speech, secure borders, and fair elections.”
Only a concise note was kept of the meeting on 30 May by the media regulator with the identities of all who attended withheld on security grounds.
It said the American representatives wanted to “better understand An Coimisiún’s functions and international collaboration.”
A senior official from CnaM gave an overview of their operations and their responsibilities under European Union law at the meeting.
They also detailed work around terrorist content, countering child sex abuse material, and efforts to combat “hate, harassment, and abuse.”
The meeting notes said: “[CnaM official] gave an introduction to An Coimisiún’s work on fundamental rights, including on empowering users who can see if and why their content has been removed or restricted online.
“Some general discussion on freedom of expression and the differences between US law and European and member state law followed.”