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ARTICLE · 04 NOVEMBER 2026

Ireland's Deepfake Bill: Protection For The Few, Not The Many

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A pensioner sees an ad on their social media feed featuring a video of a well-known celebrity, urging viewers to invest in a new trading platform. He transfers his savings. Neither the platform nor the endorsement is real. By the time the ad is reported and taken down, hundreds of people have seen it, and he and several others have already paid the price.

IrelandTechnology
Stephanie Coughlan
Stephanie Coughlan
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A pensioner sees an ad on their social media feed featuring a video of a well-known celebrity, urging viewers to invest in a new trading platform. He transfers his savings. Neither the platform nor the endorsement is real. By the time the ad is reported and taken down, hundreds of people have seen it, and he and several others have already paid the price. Criminal fraud legislation may offer the pensioner some potential avenues of redress, but there is currently no equivalent protection for the individual whose image was manipulated to carry out the scam.

This is the kind of harm the Protection of Voice and Image Bill 2025 is intended to address. Introduced by Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne, it cleared Second Stage in the Dáil in June 2026 and is now working its way through the Oireachtas. It creates two new offences. The first is knowingly using someone's name, photo, voice or likeness without consent for commercial or political gain - think advertising, fundraising, sales, or swaying

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