In his address to a conference last week in University College Cork (UCC) to mark a century of Irish radio, Taoiseach Micheál Martin noted that in its early days, radio broadcasting was “a modern, intimate and open medium which dramatically changed the pace and nature of society”.

It developed, he suggested, into something that united people and earned public trust. But such has been the change in recent technology that broadcasters can now live in “an ideological silo” and practise “selective narrowcasting”. Martin also suggested media organisations needed to demonstrate “the expertise and standards which are the core foundation for lasting trust”.

Martin presumably agrees that such necessity also applies to social media companies. But he could only say on Wednesday that it was “concerning” that X, owned by Elon Musk, and with its European headquarters based in Dublin, refused an invitation to attend an Oireachtas media committee hearing which was attended by other social media companies including TikTok, Meta and Google. The refusal of X to attend was despite a request from the Taoiseach that they do so.

Martin is renowned for his caution and insists it serves him and his country well. But........

© The Irish Times