Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming here today. I have listened very carefully and particularly to Senator Seery Kearney's questions. The Senator has covered a lot of ground that I would like to cover so some of my questions might be fairly specific. With regard to X, reference was made to child sexual exploitation and that X first of all removes material and then reports material NCMEC. Does X report any of that to law enforcement?

Please forgive me as a layperson who is a 58-year-old middle-aged man who is not very tech savvy, but my next question is on the anonymity and the lack of identification on X. I have used X and Twitter as a journalist for 13 or 14 years and as a politician. I find the vast majority of very negative trolling or abuse comes from accounts where the person hides behind anonymity. Is that something that can be changed? Would the witnesses see that as a desirable thing or an undesirable thing? Would it be a curb on freedom of expression? Is it possible? Is there any other environment in which people cannot be identified? On the road people have a manner or means by which to identify other road users and there is a kind of social contract around most forms of communication, but if one has absolute anonymity, in my subjective experience, that anonymity is generally associated with any of the negative experiences I have had on the platforms.

With respect to Meta, the witnesses answered the question about putting up notifications telling users they have used a certain amount of time. Some of what the witnesses describe is reactive in terms of how companies respond to possibly unanticipated or undesirable outcomes from technological innovation that is designed to drive attention, engagement and interaction. Do the companies have a fundamental philosophical or ethical position to which they adhere and, if so, what is it? Is it rooted in educational philosophy or classical moral philosophy such as Platonic or Aristotelian philosophy? Where is their ethical or philosophical domain and is it proactive?

I am sure all the witnesses heard about the recent publication and broadcasting of findings from research about the extreme grooming, self-harm, eating disorders, body image and suicidal ideation that appear to be phenomena across the different platforms. Is this something companies are proactively trying to remove? The witnesses said they identify this material and take it down. Is there a way of blocking it entirely? Forgive me if some of the questions sound like stupid questions. I am speaking as a layperson, although I do use all of the platforms except for TikTok because I saw what it did to Simon Harris, God help him. He is the TikTok Taoiseach. It has taken over his life entirely. It has gone in an unanticipated direction.