Mr. Paddy McGeoghegan:

I will address the Deputy's question on regulation of this type of content. Photosensitive content that could potentially trigger a seizure is very much a self-regulated area in that content creators, video makers and programmes potentially have their own rules and policies in place to test whether someone is photosensitive. Since photosensitive epilepsy is arguably the most known aspect of epilepsy, the majority of content creators are aware of it. We are all familiar with RTÉ News stating that a report may contain flashing images. The Deputy's question is quite poignant since this self-regulation has led to problems in the past because towards the end of last year, a highly-anticipated game was released which was littered with photosensitive content. It shows how self-regulation can be a problem. It was pointed out by a journalist who had got an advance copy and was testing the game who had photosensitive epilepsy. She likened the scene in this game to the medical procedure to test whether a person has photosensitive epilepsy. That shows where problems can arise.

Regarding people potentially being unintentionally targeted, we feel that there is a clear distinction. One person might share a video of a nightclub where he or she might go with friends and it might come up in the news feed of a person with photosensitive epilepsy.

Compare that with a faceless, nameless person on Twitter, who is purposefully just pushing out these images and videos either directly tagging a person or putting him or her within a hashtag so they can try to potentially induce a seizure in that person. That will also be down to investigation but we feel there should be a clear distinction in that investigation as to what the person's intent was. I hope that clarifies the point for the Deputy.