Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms McSweeney for her presentation. I also believe in the freedom of speech and I heard her state one can always press the button to unfollow somebody. Ms McSweeney stated she is a mother. What age would she allow a child to go on Twitter? What advice would she give to parents who allow their children on Twitter? These are personal questions and if Ms McSweeney does not want to answer them, I will accept it. I am a former school principal and I am concerned about cyberbullying of children. Ms McSweeney stated there are consequences if people violate rules. When does Twitter know this? Does it allow the same information to be published for children? Are the rules different for adults and children? How does Twitter know what is going on and who is behind Twitter accounts?

Ms McSweeney said Twitter holds the IP address. Did she ever consider, when children are signing up, requiring parents also to sign an acceptance form stating that they have read the guidelines? Where do parents come into it? Much of what happens is the responsibility of parents and I fundamentally disagree with my colleague, Deputy Dooley's comment that cyberbullying is not as widespread now as it was in the past. It is widespread now. As the Senator said, it is important to remember that Twitter is very unlike text messaging as it is public.