Professor Brian O'Neill:

I thank the chairperson and members of the joint committee for the invitation to speak on this topic. Like Dr. Shannon, I welcome the opportunity afforded by this discussion and the attention the joint committee is giving to the matter.

I have submitted a copy of my opening statement and in the interests of time, I will paraphrase some of its key points by way of contributing to the discussion. My perspective extends somewhat wider than the legal domain and addresses policy and governance issues, as well as evidence from the research field on children's use of technologies. My background is as a researcher and an academic in the field, with an interest in media and communications policy and related research and specifically in terms of my participation in a large and internationally renowned research project, EU Kids Online. The European Commission has supported this project for several years as part of its support for an evidence based approach towards developing European and international policy in this field. Ireland participates in EU Kids Online with 33 other countries in a network of more than 150 members.

The output from the research is available to inform our discussions on this issue. We have been developing research since 2010 and these data continue to inform our discussion. We have to keep pace with trends and developments.

In terms of some of the insights colleagues in this research effort have sought to contribute to the discussion around its policy implications, I will refer to five key points. First, children are active agents in their Internet use and we should not assume that they are always passive. They actively engage in online use for good reasons. Many benefit very significantly from their online interactions. Part of the challenge is that in many cases the environment within which they engage is not specifically designed for children. There is always a question of either retrofitting or thinking about safety implications after the fact, where that has not been given due attention in advance.

Second, much of the research has focused on the risk agenda and risks that children encounter online. It is as important in the policy domain in terms of promoting opportunities and the positive benefits that go with it. Risk and opportunities are linked and that is an insight we have focused on in the research. There is no way to separate them. Increased opportunities bring risks as part of the experience. It is a question of building resilience, dealing with potential harm and ensuring that remedies are in place to deal with more challenging situations. The integral link between risks and opportunities is an important issue.

Third, risk itself is not the inevitability of harm - it is a possibility or probability. It does not necessarily lead to harm. Risk experience is a developmental feature for children and young people who sometimes seek out risky opportunities as part of their ongoing developmental task. It is something that we need to bear in mind in the Internet domain.

Across all the empirical data we have collected about young people's Internet use, there are many different factors and it is about recognising the distinctiveness of every child's own experience. Age is a significant overriding factor that now weighs heavily in terms of how we think about providing for and supporting young people. They are very different issues. As my colleague noted earlier, the need to think about ever-younger children beyond any legal definition of ability to consent is now paramount in the context of an ever-present technology based environment. There are many other factors, but this is one which stands out predominantly. There is parental mediation and, equally, the availability of digital skills is vitally important in re-enforcing young people's ability to make the most of online opportunities.

The final point in the evidence base developed from the EU Kids Online project is to support a consistent European emphasis on the multi-stakeholder approach towards developing good policy and good governance in the online space. It goes back over 20 years of legislation and policy development in this area that there is no single solution, nor any one agent or party, that can take overall control and manage the online experience as it will play out for young people. It is very much a multi-stakeholder environment. It is a question and a challenge of finding the appropriate arrangements to ensure that all interested and relevant stakeholders have an opportunity to contribute to that space.

Through a succession of reports which I am happy to make available to the committee, both from the EU Kids Online project, the subsequent Net Children Go Mobile and Global Kids Online projects, there is a global evidence base around the various different parameters around children's and young people's experience, including experiences of harms and responses to how they deal with that, in order to guide and inform the response to this area. We have specific studies relating to Ireland's experience and comparisons with EU and international norms. We have also provided some specific data which is important in engaging with different stakeholders, such as the young people's experience themselves. Young people have to articulate their own experiences of what they find positive, what they find negative and what has affected them adversely. We must learn what responses work and whether a focus on technical solutions, such as filters or parental controls, is see to be effective. We know that their take up is not hugely or universally endorsed.

There is an issue of so-called underage use and the need to provide independent quantitative data on the numbers of children under 13 years of age using services not designed for that age group, regardless of the merits of it and information about parents' own responses and whether a restriction or more active engagement is likely to be effective.

I have noted that research in this area is ongoing and has to deal with new and emerging threats. It has to deal with changing technologies and the different opportunities that will afford. It is certainly the case that young people are often to the fore in adopting new technologies and will be the first to experiment and find out all the ways in which potential challenges arise.

On the area of policy response and governance, through EU Kids Online researchers have contributed to European measures such as co-regulatory initiatives, working with industry and other partners in developing good practice in supporting young people's safety and empowerment online. The Alliance to Better Protect Minors Online, a network of leading Internet companies, is a current initiative supported by the European Commission. Prior to that the CEO Coalition also focused on a number of enhancements in terms of industry contribution. Part of this is also responding to the communication on the strategy for a better Internet for children. The Commission enjoined member states to step up their efforts in developing and supporting digital skills education in schools and requested industry to enhance measures around new areas of content such as user generated content and guidance to parents to support them in their role. That work is ongoing.

I am currently leading a study which is a bench marking or comparative assessment of how individual member states have implemented this against the communication which was in 2012. It informs European thinking in supporting better Internet experiences for young people while strengthening or enhancing protection measures to ensure there is sufficient good quality content, and better support available to young people to emphasise their positive dimensions.

In an Irish context, I also chaired the Internet content governance advisory group in 2014 which addressed many of these matters and drew on available evidence to assess the adequacy of Ireland's governance arrangements on online content and Internet safety and in advising how they could be further developed. Our recommendations coincided with the Law Reform Commission's work which was then under way.

We made limited comment on the legislative framework in deference to the work of the Law Reform Commission which was under way. We focused largely on the suitability or adequacy of our current support arrangements for Internet safety. Those recommendations reflected detailed work and consultation with stakeholders and with children at the time and had representation on the group from all relevant aspects. The recommendations were presented to Cabinet and are available. They are awaiting a more definitive response on how the Office for Internet Safety, for example, could be further empowered and defined in terms of developing a role.

We also recommended an architecture for any suitable support for promoting better awareness of protection and education for Internet safety, and supports to ensure more effective communication between stakeholders, principally with industry and relevant Government agencies. This principally recommended the formation of a council for child Internet safety, which is of particular relevance to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs but would also look to strong interdepartmental co-operation between Departments with responsibility for education and children, all of which are actively involved in a number of initiatives.

The recommendations have been submitted to Government for consideration and I believe they were positively received but we await further implementation. I believe it is a resource which complements the work of the Law Reform Commission and its recommendation for the establishment of a digital safety commissioner. The two in fact are quite complementary and stand as an important statement awaiting further Government response. I thank the committee and I am happy to answer any questions.