Conor O'Mahony
@conorom.bsky.social
Dean of the School of Law, University College Cork. Teaching and researching constitutional law and children's rights. Father of two. Sports fan. Hillwalker and cyclist.
https://research.ucc.ie/en/persons/conor-omahony/
https://research.ucc.ie/en/persons/conor-omahony/
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
UNICEF: a child has been killed every day in Gaza by Israel since the start of the 'ceasefire.'
“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones. They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from quadcopters.”
“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones. They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from quadcopters.”
![“That’s roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during a ceasefire,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.
“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones,” he said, speaking from Gaza City. “They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from [remote-controlled] quadcopters.”
Mr. Elder pointed out that more children have also died of hypothermia in the last few days, as harsh winter conditions expose the most vulnerable Gazans.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tgw3d4hvw3x5ijrxax7lg26u/bafkreib6livc74oika3odkcvfixms7precw2zcn2wlkwsng4wy62lcp574@jpeg)
January 15, 2026 at 1:36 PM
UNICEF: a child has been killed every day in Gaza by Israel since the start of the 'ceasefire.'
“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones. They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from quadcopters.”
“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones. They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from quadcopters.”
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
AI Minister Niamh Smyth tells the Dáil that if she had the power, she'd have shut down X as soon as it was clear "vile and poison" was on its site.
She says X will be told tomorrow that it will face "the full rigours of the law in Ireland".
She says X will be told tomorrow that it will face "the full rigours of the law in Ireland".
January 15, 2026 at 4:45 PM
AI Minister Niamh Smyth tells the Dáil that if she had the power, she'd have shut down X as soon as it was clear "vile and poison" was on its site.
She says X will be told tomorrow that it will face "the full rigours of the law in Ireland".
She says X will be told tomorrow that it will face "the full rigours of the law in Ireland".
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
Reflections on COP30: Implications for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2026
The Sustainability Institute and the Centre for Law and the Environmentm UCC hosted an event yesterday "Reflection on COP30: Implications for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2026".
www.ucc.ie/en/law/news/
The Sustainability Institute and the Centre for Law and the Environmentm UCC hosted an event yesterday "Reflection on COP30: Implications for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2026".
www.ucc.ie/en/law/news/
January 15, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Reflections on COP30: Implications for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2026
The Sustainability Institute and the Centre for Law and the Environmentm UCC hosted an event yesterday "Reflection on COP30: Implications for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2026".
www.ucc.ie/en/law/news/
The Sustainability Institute and the Centre for Law and the Environmentm UCC hosted an event yesterday "Reflection on COP30: Implications for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2026".
www.ucc.ie/en/law/news/
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
For the record: as of right now, the Grok app is still doing all the things they’ve said it is stopping, for users with free/unpaid accounts.
January 15, 2026 at 11:23 AM
For the record: as of right now, the Grok app is still doing all the things they’ve said it is stopping, for users with free/unpaid accounts.
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
Today, ICCL and @tjmcintyre.com published a new analysis of the investigatory powers of An Garda Síochána, Coimisiún na Meán, the EU Commission and the Data Protection Commission ➡️ www.iccl.ie/press-releas...
An Garda Síochána, Coimisiún na Meán, the EU Commission and the Data Protection Commission all have investigatory powers to tackle illegal Grok imagery – ICCL and DRI
ICCL and Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) have published a new analysis, "Who has what powers when it comes to illegal content online?"
www.iccl.ie
January 14, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Today, ICCL and @tjmcintyre.com published a new analysis of the investigatory powers of An Garda Síochána, Coimisiún na Meán, the EU Commission and the Data Protection Commission ➡️ www.iccl.ie/press-releas...
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
“So now you have the Gardaí, the AI Minister and multiple legal experts including @iccl.bsky.social saying the legislation is all there already - it’s going to be increasingly difficult for the Government not to take a position on this”.
January 14, 2026 at 5:58 PM
“So now you have the Gardaí, the AI Minister and multiple legal experts including @iccl.bsky.social saying the legislation is all there already - it’s going to be increasingly difficult for the Government not to take a position on this”.
It's a start. Now let's see some follow-through. A reminder that if offences have been committed by individuals using AI to create child sex abuse material, then offences have most likely also been committed by companies by facilitating this.
www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
Gardaí investigating 200 reports of child sexual abuse images generated by Grok
Garda cyber crime chiefs warn AI-generated abuse imagery is rising rapidly and investigations often involve complex cross-border legal delays
www.irishexaminer.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:33 PM
It's a start. Now let's see some follow-through. A reminder that if offences have been committed by individuals using AI to create child sex abuse material, then offences have most likely also been committed by companies by facilitating this.
www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
Supt Barry Walsh: "where appropriate, these crimes will be the subject of thorough investigation, with a view to bringing those responsible or any person conspiring to commit or accommodate such offending before the courts..."
January 14, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Supt Barry Walsh: "where appropriate, these crimes will be the subject of thorough investigation, with a view to bringing those responsible or any person conspiring to commit or accommodate such offending before the courts..."
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
Judge who called cyclists ‘a nightmare’ was fined for failing to provide breath test to garda
www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...
www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...
Judge who called cyclists ‘a nightmare’ was fined for failing to provide breath test to garda
Circuit Court judge James O’Donohoe was fined €600 in Galway in 2012 after pleading guilty to failing to comply
www.irishtimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Judge who called cyclists ‘a nightmare’ was fined for failing to provide breath test to garda
www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...
www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
As a follow-up: Posting this same thing on X/Twitter yesterday resulted in RFA being permanently banned by the platform of “absolute free speech.”
We can live with that.
#RadioFreeAmerica
We can live with that.
#RadioFreeAmerica
January 13, 2026 at 10:25 PM
As a follow-up: Posting this same thing on X/Twitter yesterday resulted in RFA being permanently banned by the platform of “absolute free speech.”
We can live with that.
#RadioFreeAmerica
We can live with that.
#RadioFreeAmerica
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
A teenage boy was walking home in Minneapolis yesterday when four masked men jumped out of a van & questioned him - with no parent or guardian present.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
January 13, 2026 at 5:56 PM
A teenage boy was walking home in Minneapolis yesterday when four masked men jumped out of a van & questioned him - with no parent or guardian present.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
Cycling groups have called on a judge to withdraw his remarks that cyclists “have become a nightmare in Dublin”.
Cycling groups call on judge to withdraw remarks
Cycling groups have called on a judge to withdraw his remarks that cyclists “have become a nightmare in Dublin”.
www.irishlegal.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Cycling groups have called on a judge to withdraw his remarks that cyclists “have become a nightmare in Dublin”.
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
Over the past six years, Ireland's Data Protection Commission has levied €4.04 billion in fines, mostly on Big Tech.
Just €20 million has been collected, with most cases still tied up in legal appeals.
www.thestory.ie/2026/01/13/b...
Just €20 million has been collected, with most cases still tied up in legal appeals.
www.thestory.ie/2026/01/13/b...
January 13, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Over the past six years, Ireland's Data Protection Commission has levied €4.04 billion in fines, mostly on Big Tech.
Just €20 million has been collected, with most cases still tied up in legal appeals.
www.thestory.ie/2026/01/13/b...
Just €20 million has been collected, with most cases still tied up in legal appeals.
www.thestory.ie/2026/01/13/b...
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology." n.pr/4583d8f
Today is the Smithsonian's deadline to give thousands of documents to the White House
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology."
n.pr
January 13, 2026 at 11:54 AM
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology." n.pr/4583d8f
There's a huge spectrum at play here. It would not be accurate to say that every dodgy image of a child that Grok produces would reach the threshold of a criminal offence under existing law. But neither would it be accurate to say that none of them do. It depends on the image.
Groks creation of "nudified" images of children is disgusting and dangerous but, as it stands, it's probably not an offence 1998 Child Pornography Act, says Moran, who has spent decades investigating child abuse.
www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...
www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...
Grok images of children probably not prosecutable, says child protection expert
‘Law or no law’, there is no reason for a programme to generate images of people without clothes on, says former garda
www.irishtimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:16 PM
There's a huge spectrum at play here. It would not be accurate to say that every dodgy image of a child that Grok produces would reach the threshold of a criminal offence under existing law. But neither would it be accurate to say that none of them do. It depends on the image.
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
I was on Morning Ireland earlier discussing what we need to do about X.
Will the EU ban X?
TJ McIntyre, Assistant Professor in Law in the Sutherland School of Law in UCD and chairperson of Digital Rights Ireland, discusses the possibility of the EU banning X over Grok creating non-consensua...
www.rte.ie
January 13, 2026 at 10:29 AM
I was on Morning Ireland earlier discussing what we need to do about X.
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
It might be just me, but I don't think public bodies should be posting photographs of children to the 'makes sexual images from photographs of children' website.
Advocacy group questions Department of Education's decision to post images on X
Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) has asked what precautions under GDPR have been taken in terms of the posting
www.irishexaminer.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:42 AM
It might be just me, but I don't think public bodies should be posting photographs of children to the 'makes sexual images from photographs of children' website.
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
I am going to write an addendum to The Abuse Factory gist with three quick things everyone can do.
They really have an effect
They really have an effect
I shared your Gist with our BOM. The school Twitter account was deleted a few mins later. Greatly appreciate your work.
January 11, 2026 at 9:54 AM
I am going to write an addendum to The Abuse Factory gist with three quick things everyone can do.
They really have an effect
They really have an effect
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
New Gist: The Abuse Factory
It shouldn't be difficult to act swiftly and without hesitation when the question posed is "Is it OK to work with the child sexual abuse material factory?" But our state failed this most straightforward of tests this week.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
It shouldn't be difficult to act swiftly and without hesitation when the question posed is "Is it OK to work with the child sexual abuse material factory?" But our state failed this most straightforward of tests this week.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
The Gist: The Abuse Factory
X, the child abuse imagery app, revealed our state has no red lines. This is the Gist.
www.thegist.ie
January 10, 2026 at 2:07 PM
New Gist: The Abuse Factory
It shouldn't be difficult to act swiftly and without hesitation when the question posed is "Is it OK to work with the child sexual abuse material factory?" But our state failed this most straightforward of tests this week.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
It shouldn't be difficult to act swiftly and without hesitation when the question posed is "Is it OK to work with the child sexual abuse material factory?" But our state failed this most straightforward of tests this week.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
The idea that journalists, politicians, groups or - you know, women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people - should "stay on the pitch" doesn't really hold up.
Foreign Minister's account has 60k followers - 40 likes, 13k views?
Blue ticks straight to the top of the queue with misogyny, bile.
Foreign Minister's account has 60k followers - 40 likes, 13k views?
Blue ticks straight to the top of the queue with misogyny, bile.
This is the 'engagement' that the Irish government has been using to justify remaining on X. These are the top replies to a randomly chosen recent post.
January 10, 2026 at 8:59 AM
The idea that journalists, politicians, groups or - you know, women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people - should "stay on the pitch" doesn't really hold up.
Foreign Minister's account has 60k followers - 40 likes, 13k views?
Blue ticks straight to the top of the queue with misogyny, bile.
Foreign Minister's account has 60k followers - 40 likes, 13k views?
Blue ticks straight to the top of the queue with misogyny, bile.
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
I write in today's @irishexaminer.bsky.social about the laws that are broken when online AI platforms facilitate the production of child sex abuse material. No new laws are needed. Companies (and their executives) are accountable as well as users.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Ireland could prosecute Twitter/X for AI 'child porn' deepfakes
The horrific child sex abuse material produced every day by Grok is already banned under Irish law. The real test is if we are ready to enforce that law against large tech companies
www.irishexaminer.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:48 AM
I write in today's @irishexaminer.bsky.social about the laws that are broken when online AI platforms facilitate the production of child sex abuse material. No new laws are needed. Companies (and their executives) are accountable as well as users.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
In case you've seen the story about “grok now only generates images for paid users”, it's untrue. Apparently everyone just reported it because… it was what grok told them 🤦🏼
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
No, Grok hasn’t paywalled its deepfake image feature
X’s sexual deepfake machine is still running, despite Grok saying otherwise.
www.theverge.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:56 PM
In case you've seen the story about “grok now only generates images for paid users”, it's untrue. Apparently everyone just reported it because… it was what grok told them 🤦🏼
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
📺 Today’s report:
X didn’t respond to the Government or the EU - so we went to try to have a word.
Meanwhile, AI Minister urges EU to immediately suspend Grok and says she’ll speak to the Taoiseach about the Government off X.
🗣️ @conorom.bsky.social
@virginmedianews.bsky.social
X didn’t respond to the Government or the EU - so we went to try to have a word.
Meanwhile, AI Minister urges EU to immediately suspend Grok and says she’ll speak to the Taoiseach about the Government off X.
🗣️ @conorom.bsky.social
@virginmedianews.bsky.social
January 9, 2026 at 5:58 PM
📺 Today’s report:
X didn’t respond to the Government or the EU - so we went to try to have a word.
Meanwhile, AI Minister urges EU to immediately suspend Grok and says she’ll speak to the Taoiseach about the Government off X.
🗣️ @conorom.bsky.social
@virginmedianews.bsky.social
X didn’t respond to the Government or the EU - so we went to try to have a word.
Meanwhile, AI Minister urges EU to immediately suspend Grok and says she’ll speak to the Taoiseach about the Government off X.
🗣️ @conorom.bsky.social
@virginmedianews.bsky.social
Reposted by Conor O'Mahony
"We are very well aware of the fact that X for Grok is now offering a spicy mode showing explicit sexual content.
This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting.
I can confirm we are very seriously looking into this matter."
— Spokesperson @thomasregnier.ec.europa.eu
This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting.
I can confirm we are very seriously looking into this matter."
— Spokesperson @thomasregnier.ec.europa.eu
January 9, 2026 at 2:00 PM
"We are very well aware of the fact that X for Grok is now offering a spicy mode showing explicit sexual content.
This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting.
I can confirm we are very seriously looking into this matter."
— Spokesperson @thomasregnier.ec.europa.eu
This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting.
I can confirm we are very seriously looking into this matter."
— Spokesperson @thomasregnier.ec.europa.eu