Mr. Conor Stitt:

Currently under the 1991 Act it is an offence to publish or broadcast any material, which may lead to members of the public being able to identify the children subject to child care proceedings under section 31. When the legislation was drafted and interpreted social media was not an issue, and not something we would have considered. In terms of EPIC's advocacy service and what we might see reflected, we might see children in care sitting out of their class photos and feeling isolated and othered because of that. They might be told by a professional in their life that their social media presence, where they might talk about their life, identity or that they are care experienced, is illegal and they need to stop it. The need to protect the identity of children has to be balanced against their right to have a voice, to be heard, and to express themselves and their identity. Those are rights upheld in articles 12 and 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To the point about upholding a child's privacy, this obviously goes hand in hand with a conversation with the child as to safe and positive social media usage. However, it is in the overarching legislation where we see the problems, through it having a chilling effect on children's ability to express themselves online and to get on with school activities, and a different presence where they might feel isolated, but should not, because of their identity or care experience.

The issue of unaccompanied minors and separated children was also discussed at the committee last week mostly because it was proposed as part of a 2020 consultation paper produced by the Department, where it was considering views towards a dedicated section for unaccompanied minors and separated children, but-----