2026-07-15

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to deal with this issue when other colleagues were not available. She will be able to bring her experience of this area to this debate. I am slightly caught for time, so I will try to parse it a little bit. I wish to ask the Minister of State about the harmful content on social media platforms. I read reports in the newspapers this morning, for example, about the death of Ann Widdecombe. British police are investigating some comments that have been made - it has been reported already - online celebrating her death. They were saying that it was good news and that they hoped it was extremely painful. That has already been widely reported. Social media has many very positive aspects, such as giving people a voice and allowing people to communicate, including people of all ages. The Digital Services Act was introduced. It was to ensure a safe, predictable and trusted online environment and to prioritise greater activity and online safety. There is the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 to protect children and the public from harmful and illegal content. There is a danger. It is an offence if something can harm the physical, mental or moral development of children or if it is an incitement to hatred. In this State, we have a lot of the very large online platforms operating here. I wish to express my sympathy to the family of the woman who was killed in Killarney. On her social media platform, on her Instagram account, there are over 2,000 comments. They are still available if you open your Instagram app this morning. Many of the comments are mocking the deceased woman. While we know violence against women is a crisis and femicide in Ireland is a crisis, it is overwhelmingly men who carry out these acts. These are men of all cultures, races and ethnicities. However, social media giants have a responsibility and are clearly not stepping up to the plate. They are not complying with their obligations. They are allowing comments. If they were said in Temple Bar on a Saturday night, the person would be arrested for at least a breach of the peace or threatening, abusive and insulting words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace. Clearly, some of the comments that are being made - I do not want to list some of the comments - are mockery of a dead woman. It is allowed. It is online and in public. There seems to be no monitoring and regulation of these comments. Somebody even said that they hope these comments are not going to be deleted to suit one's ideology, which they misspelt. That is the kind of narrative that is going on. They are mocking her beliefs and her. It is similar to what is being investigated by the police in Britain. I ask the Government to take a stronger line with the platforms, or at least, contact them.

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this important issue. I pay my respects and express my condolences to the family of Ann Widdecombe. It was a shocking and heinous crime that happened to her. It is the same thing for the lady in Killarney. However, the points the Deputy raised are so true and accurate. Social media platforms fuel this. To allow comments like that to sit on the account of somebody who has lost their life in such tragic circumstances, with the further traumatic impact that has on her family, is just not acceptable. I really am of the view that the likes of The Irish Times or the Irish Independent would not be allowed to publish comments like that. They fuel that hate and allow it to continue and be exacerbated. To perpetuate that kind of vile commentary online is shocking. I am going to take time after this debate to look at the Instagram account the Deputy raised today to see for myself. I do not disbelieve the Deputy. It upsets me so much to see that is allowed. Where is the monitoring of it? The Deputy and I both sat on the Oireachtas committee where we had companies in and were promised that social media platforms would not be the wild west any more. What the Deputy has presented today certainly does not concur with that sentiment. I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of online safety. It is a priority for me and across the Government, particularly when it comes to the protection of children, women and young people. It is one of the key themes of Ireland's EU Presidency and it is an explicit whole-of-government priority in the national digital strategy, published in February of this year. We have a robust online safety framework in Ireland that should be respected and regarded. It comprises the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, the EU's Digital Services Act, and the terrorist content online regulation. Together, they place obligations on online platforms, including social media platforms, to put measures in place to prevent and limit the spread of illegal and harmful content on their services. Last July, the framework was enhanced when the online safety code came into full force. The code includes provisions designed to strengthen the protection of children online. For example, it obliges designated video-sharing platforms to implement measures to ensure that under-18s do not have access to adult-only material, such as pornography. To comply with that provision, platforms are required to use robust age assurance measures. As the Deputy knows, the Government is working with our European colleagues to come up with an age limit on access to social media platforms. I think that is a must. The Government is developing an age verification tool to support compliance with that obligation. It will only confirm to a platform whether a person is over or under 18. No other personal information is revealed to the platform, so it will meet high standards for protection of privacy. That tool will be offered as a service on the digital wallet, on a voluntary basis. Coimisiún na Meán, as Ireland's online safety and media regulator, plays an important and central role in supervising and enforcing the regulatory framework. I have worked particularly hard on the prohibited practices piece, which will come into effect on 2 August.

We are running over time but I will make one more point. If, as it provides in the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, we are to protect children and adults from online conduct, how does it look as an example to younger people in particular when this content is still allowed to be there? That is the example that is being set for people who are starting off on their online journey.

The Deputy is right - it should not be there. It only encourages more of it and sends the wrong message to young people. I would appeal to the social media companies, particularly in the case the Deputy has raised this morning, that it be removed immediately. I am going to go and look at the Instagram account he raised today. It is shocking. We have strong regulation in place and I would appeal to the social media companies to respect that and regard it. We are establishing the national AI office, as the Deputy knows, and it is incredibly important that the regulations be adhered to in respect of the prohibited practices piece. The regulation is designed to ensure that illegal and harmful content - there is no question that it is harmful content - is more likely to be identified, removed and militated against. New rules to address the challenge of AI have been adopted recently and will come into force on 2 August. The Government favours this European-wide approach to the digital services, which will make it more straightforward for serve providers to comply and regulators to oversee. Digital services are provided across borders and our response should be the same. Along with supervising and enforcing regulation, raising awareness is another tool to combat harmful content online. Coimisiún na Meán is working in this area. I will take a moment to thank Hotline, which does incredible work in this area, and An Garda Síochána. I appeal to members of the public who find harmful content online to make a complaint to Coimisiún na Meán, Hotline, An Garda Síochána and, more importantly of course, to the platforms themselves to remove the content immediately.