Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the representatives from Facebook for attending. The questions that arise point to a situation whereby we have, in the past decade, come into contact with a whole new world.

To date, there has not been much regulation in this area. It has been a case of trial and error and there have been abuses. It is a bit like the wild west without the sheriff. Now, the sheriff has arrived and has to try and get a grip on what is happening and to protect people.

I was shocked when I read that the information of 87 million users had been utilised. In the case of Ireland, there were just 15 people who had tapped into that app yet it affected over 44,000 citizens here. That just goes to show the ripple effect. In reality, the investigation came about because of the media in Britain and not as a result of any internal process that Facebook had in place. I disagree with self-regulatory structures but there was some onus on Facebook to take responsibility for the fact that it was holding all this data belonging to people. Could the witnesses clarify the position in that regard?

On the commodification and collection of information and its use, Facebook's business model is based on advertising and collecting data in order to be able to match people up to advertising. Is there not always a danger that the temptation is there to abuse this, particularly in the political context? I refer here, for example, to the most recent US presidential election or, a matter of some concern to this island, Brexit. We are facing into a referendum on what is, to put it mildly, a fairly hot topic. There is huge concern regarding the manipulation of information in that regard. The witnesses mentioned that they are about to make some changes. I ask them to make said changes, particularly those relating to advertising, tomorrow. Who pays for advertising? If I pay for an advertisement in the local press or wherever, it is identified straight away. If I put up a political poster on a lamppost, the identify of the director of elections must be listed at the bottom. That is a very simple thing. I implore Facebook to do something similar. People may argue about whether it happened in the context of Brexit or in the US. We all have our own views about it at this stage. There certainly is strong evidence to show that it did happen but the jury is still out. This country is facing into a referendum at a time when 2.5 million citizens on this part of the island alone access Facebook each day. Almost 3.5 million people throughout the Thirty-two Counties access Facebook. The witnesses might clarify matters in this regard.

We need to develop a body of law in respect of social media in order to protect the right to privacy and to protect people in the context of the huge power that corporations possess. In particular, there is a need to protect freedom of expression. In terms of the witnesses' company, how firm is it in its objection to very strict laws being introduced in individual states? What happens on the other side of the Atlantic may be one thing, but what happens on this side may be quite different.

Fake accounts are a real problem. If I seek to insure my car, I have to show that I am the owner of the car. If I go to tax the car, I have to do the same thing. If I open a bank account, I have to show proof of identity. This is all very basic. I am aware of a few fake accounts. Most of us involved in political life have been the victims of fake accounts at one time or another. Social media can be a very good platform for citizens to participate. However, there is huge abuse of it. I am aware of some fake accounts that are putting up information about people who are in public life. There is absolutely no protection. Related to that is the whole question of the stage at which Facebook intervenes and says that what has been put up about X or Y is beyond the pale and that it is going to intervene and take it down. In fairness, people do not mind a bit of robust political exchange but when the latter oversteps that mark, it takes away from the benefits of social media.