Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed)

11:00 am

Mr. Ryan Meade:

I hope I did not give the impression that we believe that education alone is a silver bullet in this case; I apologise if that impression came through in any of the presentations. We are trying to emphasise, in our approach to online safety and in the collaborative work we do, that there is no silver bullet to prevent bullying or any other online safety issue. We are highlighting the importance of education. Most witnesses will probably agree that educating and empowering users is one of the key planks of any strategy for online safety. I did not want to give the impression that we believe that education alone can solve the issue of online bullying or any other online safety issue, which is why I laid out the different themes we address in our approach to online safety. Education and empowerment fall under our work in partnership with other organisations. I also highlighted our technological innovation in terms of the tools we have sought to put in the hands of users and families. We also have community guidelines, and I will ask my colleague, Ms Madden, to talk about those.