Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 June 2021

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media

Making Europe Fit for the Digital Age: EU Commissioner for Competition

Ms Margrethe Vestager:

I really appreciate the questions and comments of committee members. They are right that our democracy cannot fall victim to digitisation. No matter how much I like digital solutions and work for us to use them where they improve lives and convenience and make our societies more inclusive, they are only a supplement to people coming together and speaking in real life, where we can read body language and see the sparkle in someone's eye. It is still much easier to understand people we disagree with when we see them in real life. It is a different thing to say to someone's face what some people write in online commentary. We should never forget this when raising our children. We must keep reminding ourselves as adults that democracy depends on a civilised way of disagreeing, listening to one another and perhaps finding ways of agreeing. I look forward to being able to meet the committee in person in the not-too-distant future. Committee members may not all be football fans or football players but perhaps we could go to a hurling match together. Such investment is what is needed to stabilise our democracy. Digital is one thing but humans coming together is the basics.

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