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

I wish to raise a couple of other issues. Young people in particular use many of the platforms. We hear of young people who are self-harming, sometimes to the extent of suicide. Much of that comes from pressure they have been put under online. We often discover in the aftermath that various complaints were made but material was not removed from online in spite of people's requests.

The committee is undertaking work on the issue of spent convictions. The people in question have moved on with their lives. Someone in my area had mental health issues when young and got into trouble. However, if one were to Google that person's name today, a media report would come up. There was a request to have that search result taken down, but the response was that it was in the public interest to leave it even though it was hurtful and damaging to the individual in question. Anyone looking at this logically would not see a public interest in the matter at all.

A large amount of work is to be done by all of the organisations before us if they are to gain people's confidence in these matters. How and where are the organisations moving as regards the right of a person to move on with his or her life and the issue of young and vulnerable people being victimised online?