Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am located in the convention centre. I thank our witnesses for joining us. As my time is limited, I want to hear from each of them and get an understanding of their positions on what Deputy Griffin touched on, that is, online anonymity and the anonymous accounts out there. These trolls bully with abandon, spread racist and misogynist abuse and attack people based on looks, weight, age, gender and disability. As well as young people, God forbid if you are a public representative because you will be specifically targeted. I have spoken to many constituents and it is clear to them that the reporting to social media platforms does not work and that the cost of legal remedies is out of reach of normal people who need the law to be updated in this regard. We need to make our social media known more for the good in society rather than the toxic, unsafe hellhole they can be for so many. Anonymous accounts provide a shadow under which these people can hide and facilitate and encourage online abuse. As it stands, tech companies - forgive me if I am wrong - do not know who millions of their users are. No matter how good these companies' intentions, the lack of basic information means that any attempt they make to police their platforms and bring offenders to justice is a painful process for them. Basically, their hands are tied in respect of prosecution before they even attempt to start. That brings huge concern. No one should be prevented from using another name, but we have to make it harder for online abusers to hide in the shadows and cause the mayhem they cause. Information on users is critically important in this respect. I would like to see tech companies make more of the issue without always needing governments to intervene. I have heard a lot of words such as "prudent", "proactive", "enforcement" and "exploring" used. We need to see real action in this regard. Deputy Griffin talked about three simple steps in respect of verification of identity. That is hugely important, and we need to start moving swiftly on this. Furthermore, every user should be made verify his or her identity. That would be a hugely important step across all social media platforms.

Finally, we need to give users the option to block communication, comments and other interactions from unverified users as a category if they so wish. We need to see a timeline as to when this will be implemented. Ms Alex Cooney, CEO of CyberSafeKids, has said self-regulation simply does not go far enough. Again, I have heard from constituents about this. Families are seeking support, and it is often a lengthy and difficult battle to find a solution to the problem. What are the witnesses' positions on this and what specifically do they intend to do about it?