Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the contributors for what they have shared with us this morning. I read in detail all the written contributions. I will start with a few questions on the issue of explicit images, which, according to the submission, is the main focus of hotline.ie.

While child sexual abuse material seems to be its focus, I imagine hotline.iealso receives reports of more general sexual abuse material. The witnesses emphasised that child sexual abuse material is clearly illegal and therefore the issue of consent does not apply. I would like to tease out the issues of consent and freedom of expression and where the platforms stand in that respect and also how they deal with those issues. We all regularly come across content online which is not considered appropriate or normal. We do not know from looking at this content whether the people depicted in the images gave their consent. A couple of decades ago, page 3 of many daily newspapers featured a picture of somebody wearing very little or no clothing. That was considered normal at the time but it is no longer considered normal and these pictures no longer feature. One of the reasons for this is that much of this material has moved onto the Internet. The reality is that society has deemed it not to be appropriate. If it is not appropriate in a newspaper, surely it is not appropriate in formats like the various Internet platforms. I understand completely that what makes these platforms unique and what makes them work is freedom of expression and the ability to put something online immediately. At the same time, there is an element of responsibility around this, including as regards consent. I would like to get Ms Niculescu's views because we have not heard from her in regard to checking out that consent or whether consent is checked out regularly in respect of images other than child sexual material.