Mr. Ian Power:

I thank Senator Ruane for raising this case. I also thank Paul for allowing us to hear Jacqueline's story today. From our perspective, as Ms Farries has described, any legal framework has to consider intent but it should also include impact. One of the things that we have seen in the devastating consequence of harms that are caused to people through the sharing of content online is that often the impact is minimised and often is not well understood. While we might have heard of Jacqueline's case at the time, it is really important to hear Paul's story today articulating that it does not just end there, that the impact is much further-reaching and there is a longevity to it that people do not realise. From our perspective, in terms of somebody who shared those images, and in the case of Dara Quigley as well, while obviously we are not in those people's frame of mind, we have seen that the public are just not aware of the consequences of their actions. Whether there is intent there or not, people need to understand that publishing images as distressing as the ones mentioned denies a person the right to privacy and dignity.

One of the first cases we had to comment on in that regard concerned a music festival and a young girl whose images were posted online. We would have thought we had come some way since that point towards understanding the consequences of sharing content that we do not have the right to share. It is not within our gift to decide whether content should be shared. There is obviously context to the issue as well. We must think about the platforms as well, in that when the Arab Spring was happening or even when the violence was perpetrated against people fighting for independence in Catalonia, there is a context to some of this content. We should be able to see some of the harms that are caused to people but, again, it should be proportionate and there should be mature consideration about where that applies and where it does not apply. For us, ultimately, it has to focus on impact on the individual. Again, the reason we need a digital safety commissioner is to be able to escalate hard cases like this where time is of the essence to be able to restrict the further sharing of such content. To be fair, the platforms do respond in certain circumstances such as those outlined. I do not think they have to be of such a gravity as the cases of Jacqueline and Dara to require a quick response. Every case where there is content about a person or that causes a person distress should be responded to just as quickly as in those circumstances. We need to create the framework to allow that to happen.