Ms Jane McGarrigle:

I wish to respond to the Chairman's question on industry and the platforms. I know we are not able to name platforms. The platforms vary in size. This is evolving all the time and new platforms come up. The role of industry is one of the biggest things we spoke about when we sat down with our youth panel. We obviously welcome the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, but industry, particularly the bigger players, can do much more and can take proactive steps.

All the witnesses present are very familiar with new safety features and updates on websites. However, these updates and safety features are not as readily available or communicated to children and young people. Our youth panel informed us they were not aware of any safety centres available on these platforms. We believe industry has that major role to play, and not just schools, parents and young people. Robust effective reporting structures should be in place. Cyberbullying should not be allowed to take place on these platforms.