Ms Patricia Cronin:

I thank the Chairman and members for inviting us to participate in the detailed scrutiny of Deputy Ó Laoghaire’s Bill. As members are aware, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, expressed his preliminary views on the Bill at the committee’s meeting on 25 October. He outlined his view that if the Oireachtas is to pass a law in this area, it must ensure that it is robust, effective, and proportionate and that it properly meets the public policy need to protect children online. The Minister has asked the Department to consider the Private Members’ Bill in detail. He also asked the Attorney General for urgent advice on a range of legal issues which the draft legislation presents.

As members are aware, the action plan for online safety, which was published by the Taoiseach on 11 July, contains 25 actions to be implemented or substantially progressed by the six Departments involved by the end of 2019. Since the publication of the plan, an interdepartmental sponsors’ group, chaired by the Department of Education and Skills, with membership from the other five Departments, has been established. That group will report to the relevant Cabinet committee on progress in implementing these commitments.

The National Advisory Council for Online Safety has also been established. Its secretariat is provided by my Department. The first meeting of the council was held on 4 October and the next meeting will be held in the coming weeks. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, has succeeded the Deputy Kyne, who is now Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, as chairman of the council. The committee may also be interested to note that the council has established two sub-groups, the first to consider the role of the council in relation to guidance material, and the second to consider the council’s role in relation to research. A wide range of organisations have accepted the Government’s invitation to be members of the council, including the four other organisations represented at this meeting, as well as other bodies representing parents and older people, academic experts, and State bodies including An Garda Síochána, the Data Protection Commission and the Ombudsman for Children.

It is envisaged that the council will publish a report on its work to date to coincide with Safer Internet Day in February. This will, in subsequent years, will become the council's annual report. The overall focus of the action plan for online safety is to identify and deliver the activities that can be delivered over a period of 12 to 18 months and that will have the greatest impact on online safety for all our citizens, especially children. Action 18 of the plan commits the Government, and specifically my Department, as well as the Departments of Justice and Equality and Business Enterprise and Innovation, to work with this committee to explore the issues arising in respect of this Private Members’ Bill.

There are a number of issues which the committee may wish to consider in the context of its scrutiny, a number of which were referenced by the Minister on 25 October, some of which I will now outline. There is an absence of a definition of harmful digital communications. It will be important to define what illegal offences will come within scope; whether the definition would also include harmful but not illegal communications, and, if so, of what nature. Another issue is the definition of a digital service undertaking which appears to encompass a very wide range of undertakings, some of which may pose little or no risk in respect of harmful communications. In the context of illegal content, would the Data Protection Commissioner have the power to seek the take-down of such material without consulting An Garda Síochána? In the case of harmful but legal content, are there enforcement issues arising given that under the e-commerce directive 2000, notice and take down requirements relate only to the take-down of illegal content? Is the enforcement mechanism envisaged for the take-down of harmful content by an undertaking located outside the State appropriate given that the speed of take-down would likely be the key outcome sought in such cases?

It may be helpful for the committee to be aware of some additional developments in the regulation of online content at European level. It is expected that the final text of the revised audiovisual media services directive will be published shortly, with a requirement that it be implemented by member states within 21 months.

The original audiovisual media services directive, which was agreed in 2010, established the framework for regulating traditional television and on-demand services such as RTÉ Player and Netflix. While there are many aspects of the revision which will be of interest to the committee, of particular relevance to today's discussion are the new provisions that will apply to video-sharing platform services. Aspects of services such as YouTube are likely to fall within the scope of these provisions. The revised directive will require member states to introduce, by means of co-regulation, a system to ensure that these services have measures in place in order that minors will be protected from audiovisual content, including advertising, which may impair their physical, mental or moral development and that the general public will be protected from audiovisual content, including advertising, containing incitement to violence or hatred and from such content, including advertising, the dissemination of which is a criminal offence under Union law. The latter covers terrorism-related offences, child sexual abuse material offences and offences of racism and xenophobia.

Ireland will be required to appoint a national regulatory authority which will monitor and ensure that video-sharing platforms have appropriate measures in place to meet the goals I have outlined. Among the measures which may be appropriate are age-verification and parental controls. This presents an alternative approach to the regulation of harmful online content, albeit only for video-sharing platforms. The Department intends to commence a public consultation on Ireland's approach to the implementation of the revised directive before the end of this year.