Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy that some very tragic incidents have been associated with the Neknomination phenomenon in recent weeks, not only in Ireland but across the globe. He suggested that we somehow shut down all social media communication which is in any way connected with these tragic occurrences. It would be impossible to achieve this, either now or at any time in the future. If we decided to try to convince Facebook to remove all references to Neknomination from its website, what would be the outcome? The Deputy referred to the many other social media opportunities that are becoming available on a daily basis and there is no reason why young people - in view of their talent and creativity - would not develop their own social media platforms in order that they might engage in what some regard as quite juvenile behaviour. One would certainly not advise one's sons or daughters to become involved in such behaviour. The Deputy must realise that it would be impossible to regulate or shut down communication on the type of sites to which we are referring here. That is the way the Internet works and that is the way it will always work.

Deputy Keating referred to peer pressure. What he said is correct. Peer pressure occurs everywhere, not just on social media sites.

It happens in our schools and in school yards, streets and pubs but there is no suggestion that we need to regulate that interaction between young people and those settings. It is undesirable in those settings and it is undesirable in social media. What we need to do is to educate and empower our young people to use social media and all other forms of communication sensibly and not to engage in activity that compromises the safety of their friends and their peers. The long and perhaps difficult process in which we have always been engaged and in which we will continue to engage is to educate young people on how best to interact with and support one another.

Deputy Keating referred to the nominations for random acts of kindness. I saw an excellent example of it on Facebook where a young person in my constituency had put up a RAK nomination, a random act of kindness. I am more than confident that young people themselves are well capable of highlighting the general challenges around these nonsensical Neknomination activities and how they are subjecting their peers to these very challenging situations. They are well capable of responding and showing the very positive force that social media can be to do positive things. I do not think it is a question of regulation or somehow shutting down the interaction that will always occur through the use of social media, rather it is about educating our young people to the best possible extent on how social media can be used wisely and effectively as a positive force.

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