Mr. Ryan Meade:

As I said in my opening statement, we operate under a series of regulations and we think there is always scope for legislators to look at how the frameworks can be improved to get better outcomes for people who use our services. In this sense we are in favour of regulation and looking at what is in the existing legal framework and what scope there is for improving it where new regulations are introduced. In the document we submitted we make suggestions on principles that could apply to this additional oversight. Specifically, I referred to the e-commerce directive to emphasise that it provides an opportunity for legislators to oversee notice and takedown procedures. In a sense, this is what is happening not just in Ireland but elsewhere. People are looking at how we can use the regulation.

With regard to the principles I mentioned, a number of people referred to clarity. Platforms as much as users would benefit from clarity on what the definitions are, what is actually expected of platforms and how we can operate them.

Another key point is suitability and that the form of regulation that applies is suitable to the specific service. We are sitting here together today but we all have quite different products and services that operate in different ways and present different issues and challenges. We suggest legislators should definitely take this into account.