Dr. T.J. McIntyre:

In response to the Deputy's question, from a practical perspective one way of doing this might be to have an intermediate system, which could be something like a digital safety commissioner where we have clearly defined rules being applied. In this scenario there would be a halfway house for individuals who are affected. These individuals could say this is a clear legal wrong against them and clearly defamatory, and not merely an undefined example of people being nasty to them online. Such an individual might not have the resources to go to the Circuit Court or the High Court but they could go to an intermediate body to make that complaint. That body would assess the complaint and order that the material be taken down after hearing from the other side, without damages being awarded. That would operate in a similar way to the Data Protection Commissioner, DPC, for example. There is no reason why we could not have that form of intermediate structure that could be called something like the digital safety commissioner, provided it is operating within clear and well-defined laws and provided it has clear procedural safeguards in place.