Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Church referred to the issue, even with the terrible example he gave, that this is the platform on which young people communicate. The problem is when things go sour. The question is the extent of regulation vis-à-vis the protection of children's rights. As we saw last week with the children from Kinsale and Tallaght who gave testimony to the committee, they expressed concern about over-regulation of the area. It comes down to the fine lines. I refer to the point Ms Ward made. Obviously, there are identifiable threats in terms of pornography and other issues, but she also spoke about the targeted advertisements by cosmetics companies, especially at young girls, which in many cases can be equally destructive to their self-image and self-worth, and can equally lead down a harmful path. Where do we draw the line in these areas of fine lines as to what is material that can be very harmful to young children? This point was made yesterday by the special rapporteur on child protection regarding harmful online content, its dissemination and its identification. It might be easily identifiable with things such as pornography, but it is not as easily identifiable in a swathe of other areas and is equally destructive. What are witnesses' thoughts on how that can be addressed?