Ms Sinéad McSweeney:

It is absolutely fascinating. The teacher here has chosen to have that class tweet the Norman invasion or the Second World War to make it real to them, as well as to cover the subject on a platform with which they are familiar. I had an interesting conversation with Orla Tinsley recently about how cystic fibrosis sufferers cannot have the normal support group environment to which many other people have access because of the risk of infection. I was talking to her about a tweet I had seen from someone to the effect that Twitter provided for this person the equivalent of a support group. It was where she felt she could talk to and share her experiences, worries and issues with people, albeit in a safe environment because she was not at risk of infection. Similarly, a lot of mental health organisations use Twitter and other social media to access the groups with whom they are trying to raise awareness of mental health issues and to offer a helping hand and a listening ear. They have found it to be highly effective. Again, in respect of straightforward Government information, I have included on the slide examples from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Fingal County Council, which has used the platform really effectively, particularly on foot of events such as flooding two years ago and so on. Again, it involved simply giving people the information they require when they need it, right at the moment. Finally, people come to Twitter to connect to and be part of events. It could be the run-up to the hurling and football championships in September, as well as every other game and moment that happens in between.

If we did not make it to London for the London Olympics we could have been not just part of the events themselves but also part of lots of the things that were happening to the athletes in the background. One could be on the red carpet at the Oscars.

Moving on to the more serious side, we have seen the role Twitter has played in the general election in 2011, the presidential election in America in 2012 and also in cases of crisis and emergency such as during the Japanese earthquake. People turned to Twitter when other communications channels were closed to people in Japan and outside who were anxious to hear about family and relatives. The Japanese Government has since put a policy in place to ensure that will be the norm should such events happen in future. Similarly, there was effective use by emergency services and political leaders on the east coast of America when Hurricane Sandy hit last year.

Our CEO, Mr. Dick Costello, another Corkman, often describes Twitter as a global town square. He refers to the town square of old where people came to do many different things, namely, chat, meet friends, find out what was happening in the locality, be part of town or village events and to trade. Equally, we all know that a minority of people visit town squares to pick pockets, pick a fight or make trouble. We recognise that on our platform there are people who come to it without the best of intentions who do not seek to share the amazing and profound experiences that are available and the opportunities and innovation that exist, but for their own reasons seek to do otherwise. We are acutely conscious of our responsibility to address that.

I wish to refer to a few slides that are screen shots of the resources we have for people. It would take too much time now but I am happy at any stage to sit down with committee members and physically take them through the help centre. Let us take a user who has experienced a difficulty on the platform and examine what is open to him or her in terms of the steps he or she can take. If the person is using a mobile telephone then some of the best resources are in his or her hand within his or her own profile. If one hits the cog on the left-hand side half-way down the profile one will see a help button. When one hits it one is taken to our help centre. There are a range of resources, tools and facilities for our users to deal with any issue that might arise for them on the platform. It ranges from the really basic stuff about learning how to use the platform through to technical difficulties such as lost passwords, but for today’s purposes I will focus on No. 3, which is reporting abuse or policy violations.

Within that category one will see the Twitter rules right up at the top. There are Twitter rules and limitations on the content which is permitted on the platform. The rules state clearly and in simple language what is and is not permitted on the platform. Content which breaches those rules can and does lead to permanent suspension from the platform. That includes, among a range of things, specific and direct threats of violence, abusive behaviour, posting private information and impersonation. As well as setting out the rules one will see underneath the heading “safety centre”. We go further and offer guidance and best practice to our users on how they can best observe and stay within the rules. We further support that with a range of articles, not just about Twitter use but about general online behaviour and how to mind oneself and navigate the Internet and the online space. We offer that in a range of different guises because we are conscious that there are different people using the platform and different people requiring the information. There are safety tips for parents, teachers and teenagers. I encourage members to take a look at some of the articles.

We offer further advice on online behaviour, including how to avoid conflict and how to deal with encountering someone who is talking about self-harm or suicide. We also deal with understanding the context of conversations that occur on the Internet. Sometimes it is necessary to move on from a conversation just as one would if one was walking in the street and someone let out a roar, one would keep going and ignore it. We deal with empathy in online relationships. I worked with someone in the Garda who said that paper does not smile. Sometimes texts, emails and tweets do not smile either and people can misunderstand what is being sent to them. It is important to take a moment to consider the context in which remarks are made. We offer all of that information. Much of the content is directed towards solving problems, avoiding them before they arise and empowering people to deal with and resolve issues for themselves because that is a lot of what we hear from young people, that they want the skills and tools to deal with some of the problems themselves. Unfortunately, however, some issues cannot be resolved in that way and they are not always prevented so further down the page – I have put it on a separate slide for visual impact – we provide information, issue by issue, on how to report to Twitter the violations of our rules. They include abusive behaviour, impersonation, somebody posting personal information or media violations which include offensive images or those which breach our rules.

Drilling down slightly into abusive behaviour, specifically, because that was much of the theme that was covered yesterday, again one will see the two-pronged approach – education and awareness-raising of what is good online behaviour, what we want to see on our platform, how people should avoid conflict and we also highlight the tools we make available to users to block users or to flag content. Second, we have the forms for reporting content to us. There is an example of one on the slide. There is a range of them. One can see that it is straightforward. It is an online form. People are taken through it step by step. The process is also populated with links back to advice and guidance about serious issues. In such cases we urge users to seek assistance offline and, if necessary, to contact law enforcement. I do not propose to take members through every single form now but I am available to sit down with members at any stage.

Before finishing I want to revisit what I have said. We have more than 200 million active users on the platform worldwide. The vast majority of those people have a positive, enriching and safe experience on our platform. That is what we wish for all our users. Therefore, we have rules and procedures. We also give users themselves the tools to make that happen. Having listened to yesterday’s debate, given my background, I respect and understand the responsibilities of members as lawmakers and also as representatives of their constituents and the concerns they express. We are acutely aware of our responsibilities that come with having a platform such as Twitter. We want to work with people such as Oireachtas Members and others in this space to raise awareness among users of their responsibilities.

I was taken yesterday and today by the emphasis of speakers, including the Chairman, on the immense and profound potential the platform offers to us. It is important that we do not lose sight of the opportunities social media have opened up for individuals, families and communities to enable them to get to know each other better, learn more about what interests them and to connect them to parts of the world of which they never dreamt. In some ways social media and Twitter in particular have not just made the world a smaller place they have made it a bigger place. We have gone beyond the world. Right now there is a man sitting in the stars tweeting to us on a daily basis. He tweets pictures, videos and music.

Last month he tweeted at us and told us how lovely we were and any one of us has the opportunity to tweet back and say go raibh maith agat.

I thank the committee for its attention and I am happy to take questions from members.