As a trusted flagger, the Central Bank will be able to notify online platforms about illegal content, which they are then legally obliged to deal with as a matter of priority.

Coimisiún na Meán, as Ireland’s digital services co-ordinator, has awarded the trusted flagger status to the Central Bank for three years from 2 April 2025 to 2 April 2028.

The Central Bank’s designated area of expertise is financial scams and fraud, including the provision and/or offer of financial services without authorisation.

John Evans, the digital services commissioner, said: “Coimisiún na Meán is committed to ensuring a media landscape that consumers can trust, and where they are protected from exploitation and fraud.

“We recognise that financial scams and fraud are a concern to the Irish public, and we welcome the Central Bank of Ireland’s expertise in this area.

“By granting the Central Bank of Ireland trusted flagger status, we are legally obliging online platforms to ensure that any illegal online content reported by the Central Bank of Ireland, such as financial scams and fraud are prioritised by the platform and dealt with in a timely manner.

“The trusted flagger status is a new statutory mechanism that offers empowerment for organisations by placing obligations on the platforms to give priority to trusted flagger notifications. Entities awarded trusted flagger status are recognised as such across the EU.

“Trusted flaggers will also feed into Coimisiún na Meán’s identification of trends and issues via annual reports which will be instrumental in establishing an informed, evidence-based approach to our platform supervisory activities.”

Gabriel Makhlouf, governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, said: “The Central Bank of Ireland is delighted to be the first organisation in the country to be granted trusted flagger status by Coimisiún na Meán.

“This accreditation marks another milestone in the bank’s commitment to protecting consumers and strengthens our efforts to disrupt the activities of unauthorised providers of regulated financial services.

“We look forward to continuing our work to strengthen the framework of consumer protection in Ireland through this new status.”