Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is a fair point. I thank Mr. O'Connor.

Ms McGinley and Ms McDonald have set out a specific number of asks for the committee. I note there was a request to ask the Taoiseach to put pressure on social media platforms. The Taoiseach, the Department of Education and the Minister are actively engaging on that. I would support that request. They specifically mentioned the recommender systems and that is something I have personally called for, both here and in the Seanad. The majority of people are not aware of that and going back to media literacy, if we are aware of that and happy with it, that is okay as it can tailor what I am interested in and provide the content I am interested in but if one is not, it can have negative connotations. On committee support for a public inquiry into the harms, that is something that this committee - while it is not a public inquiry - has done with civil society and young students as part of the analysis of the legislation. There was extensive engagement in terms of examining the harms. That was quite scary in many of the areas we looked at. With regard to the area the collective delved into and touching on Mr. O'Connor's point on understanding the cycle of hate and how that is having an impact, I would like to hear more.