But the HN title is really misleading. This is only about a private criminal action by a private citizen. The bar for filing a "complaint" like this appears to be pretty low, akin to a civil lawsuit. HN's current title sounds like Irish prosecuting agencies are investigating FAANG's for crimes committed, but that is not the case!
I don't see why they need to distinguish since they are both technically prosecutions and it seems to be the only way to go after evils and bullshit that every government is allowing to stand no matter how depraved or illegal it is
They cannot. Making a complaint is just reporting an alleged crime. This is exactly the same process as if your house was burgled and you can identify the burglars. It would normally be confidential, but in this case it was made by a "privacy activist" who publicised it himself.
The Gardai and the DPP (prosecutor) make the decision to prosecute or not. If (when) they decide to drop the case, the activist can follow up to get a statement in writing about why the DPP determined it wasn't worth a criminal prosecution. That's all he's likely hoping to get out of this.
The US, on the other hand, does have private criminal prosecutions in many jurisdictions, but they aren't very common or effective.
Short of that, the victim must be allowed to present evidence of a crime before a judge, where the prosecutor has refused to prosecure. if there is merit the why shouldn't there be a prosecution? At least for crimes where there is an actual victim. This idea that financial compensation is enough is ludicrous.
It's usually a holdover from English common law.
Edit- not that it matters here, since it’s a regular criminal complaint to the garda and not a private prosecutions at all.