Mr. John Church:

I thank the committee for inviting us. I am joined by Ms Fiona Jennings, ISPCC's senior policy and public affairs manager. We will both be happy to address any questions members might have on our opening statement or written submission as the session proceeds.

The ISPCC's sole concern with this legislation and the reason we are here is to ensure the protection of children online and to impress on members, as legislators, that this is within their gift. The ISPCC views itself as a child-centred technology advocate. It champions all the benefits technology has, highlights and educates on the potential risks and harms, and speaks out about the gaps in the current regulatory approach.

Through our suite of Childline services, children and young people tell us at first-hand about the experiences of their daily lives. In the ISPCC's last operational year, the Childline telephone services received more than 265,000 contacts, of which we answered in excess of 206,000. Our Childline text and online service received nearly 35,000 contacts. Online safety and bullying, including cyberbullying and the impact it can have on children's mental health, featured across these services.

Today, I want to share the story of just one child. I want to demonstrate the real human impact of online harm and why access to effective and efficient remedies is crucial and warrants meaningful policy and legislative change, which could, in some cases, be life-saving. The child's story reflects the weekly interactions we have with children and young people and why cyberbullying is an issue that we must all take seriously. Kate is 13 years old. Her interests include gaming, hanging out with her friends, playing the piano and enjoying all the typical things a 13-year-old girl ought to enjoy. She enjoys posting videos of her piano-playing online, competing with her friends through online gaming, and using various apps to keep in touch with what is going on in their busy daily lives. At least she used to enjoy these activities but things changed recently for her. The in-school bullying she was enduring moved online, where lies were being spread about her by her so-called friends. Students were texting and calling her horrible names on the very apps on which they once enjoyed hanging out together. She sits alone in her bedroom, but not in silence. She is kept company by the constant pinging of her phone alerting her to the latest horrible thing being said about her.

When Kate contacted Childline, she told the call facilitator how she wanted to slit her wrists as she felt this was the only way to stop the cyberbullying. Imagine being in the shoes of Kate, a child who felt this was the only option that would make her situation better. She blocked some of the children who were saying horrible things about her and reported some of them to the various platforms and gaming sites she was being bullied on but nothing meaningful happened and the cyberbullying continued.

Cyberbullying can have a long-lasting and devastating impact on its victims. By its nature, it is intentional, targeted, repeated and persistent. Whereas in the past some victims of bullying had a reprieve at weekends and school holidays, it is no longer the case when bullying moves online. It is likely that each example of cyberbullying that Kate endured, if reported in isolation, would not meet the investigation threshold of any platform or site. However, when considered together, the picture is very clear. The impact on Kate is very clear. It is in respect of cases like hers, a case of egregious cyberbullying, that the ISPCC impresses upon the committee the need for some mechanism to be available to children. A reporting mechanism that children such as Kate could avail of would go some way to rectifying the problem and limit the harm being caused.

The ISPCC was impressed to hear the representatives of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, the future regulators in this space, state at last week's committee meeting that the protection of minors is central to the body's plans and efforts, while recognising that in a small number of circumstances there may not be the potential to resolve an issue effectively and efficiently within the provisions of the proposed Bill. It was further heartening to hear the witnesses from the BAI and the Data Protection Commission, DPC, calling on the committee to reconsider including a notice and take-down function under the remit of the online safety commissioner, seeing merit in such an individual complaints function.

There is a need for society to shift the narrative in how we speak about bullying behaviour. It is not banter, it is not a rite of passage, and it is not "just having the craic" where someone is deliberately and persistently being targeted over and over. We need to recognise it for what it is, namely behaviour that can cause long-lasting harm. Our one ask of the committee is that it reconsider the concept of the notice and take-down provision as set out in a draft Bill purposed by the Law Reform Commission, LRC, in 2016.

In the most egregious cases of cyberbullying, children must have access to an individual complaints mechanism. While we appreciate there is now an urgency in getting this legislation passed due to the need to transpose the audiovisual media services directive, we ask the committee not to fall at the final hurdle and to remain committed to the protection of children online at this critical juncture. We look forward to any questions committee members might have.