Government Must Stand Up for Irish Writers Against Big Tech
Government Must Stand Up for Irish Writers Against Big Tech - The Labour Party
Labour spokesperson on arts, media and culture Rob O’Donoghue TD has called on Government to take urgent action to defend Irish writers, following serious allegations that tech giant Meta used pirated literary content to train its artificial intelligence models without consent or compensation.
Deputy O’Donoghue said:
“Irish writers are standing up to one of the world’s most powerful tech companies and they deserve the full backing of the Irish Government.
“This is a clear issue of copyright and compensation. Meta’s actions, if proven, are in breach of Irish and EU copyright law. Writers have a right to be paid for their work. The creative sector faces enough challenges without billion-dollar corporations helping themselves to books, stories and ideas.
“The Irish Writers Union has delivered a petition with over 1,500 signatures to the Department of Enterprise and Trade, calling for Meta to be held accountable. Labour fully supports this petition and the writers behind it.
“We are calling for Government to engage directly with the Writers Union and clarify what legal protections are in place to prevent the unauthorised use of Irish literary work in AI training, instead of bowing down to US tech giants.
“We need to send a strong signal that creative work has value. Writers, artists, and creators must be respected in the digital age—big tech can’t just take their work and shrug off responsibility.
“We’ve seen protests, court action, and growing public anger. It’s time for Government to step up and back the people who shape and share our national culture.”