Ms Sinéad McSweeney:

I understand Deputy Colreavy's discomfort. One of the solutions to this problem is to have all the stakeholders work together to avoid a scenario where the type of legislative or Government-imposed restrictions the Deputy describes are required. We need to develop a better understanding of the tools and resources that are available outside of legislation and try to avoid circumstances where incidents escalate to the point of becoming a criminal offence.

It is interesting that the Deputy should ask what actions are triggered when one makes a complaint. We have found that young people also ask this question because they are anxious to have greater transparency about the process of making a complaint. Twitter is working on this issue. Young people expressed a concern that if they were to report someone who was sending abusive information or making offensive comments, this report could be sent to the individual about whom they are complaining. We need to introduce some transparency around this process and provide reassurance. When someone chooses to report offensive contact, which is, as the Deputy stated, insidious, persistent and abusive behaviour, such complaints are assessed by our trust and safety team against Twitter rules. Where someone has violated Twitter rules, he or she is suspended from the platform. This can and does happen to people who violate our rules.

The Deputy referred to protocol and procedures. In effect, he was insisting that people use their real names and raising the issue of anonymity on the platform. There is a flipside to the anonymity debate. We view anonymity as giving people who would not otherwise have a voice an opportunity to be part of discussions and debates and perhaps a world that is not generally open to them. As a platform founded on the principle of freedom of expression, the anonymity concept is very important to us. We have seen it used and it is of immense value to people around the world, be they dissident journalists working in areas of conflict, human rights workers or young people in particular at-risk groups. These are the reasons anonymity is important to Twitter as a platform. That said, the issue the Deputy raises is a serious one, although his example involving him masquerading as Enda Kenny may not be so serious. Some of the speech that can occur anonymously is a serious problem and I assure the Deputy that regardless of whether they are made anonymously, tweets must still conform to our rules. If anonymous tweets or accounts are reported to us and found to violate our rules, they will be suspended.