Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Howlin and the Labour Party on bringing the Bill forward. I have contributed on this issue a number of times previously, particularly in the context of revenge porn. Fianna Fáil will support the Bill but we will bring forward amendments to strengthen it on Committee Stage because cybersafety is the child protection issue of our time. There is no doubt that in many instances a mobile phone, tablet or laptop can be a crime scene. Currently, the online world in which all Members and many of our friends, family members and children are immersed is largely self-regulated. Ireland is completely behind the curve in legislating for the online and social media sphere, and this has given rise to the shocking and distressing stories we hear day after day about revenge porn, cyberbullying, online stalking, upskirting, downblousing and other forms of harassment and offence. The Law Reform Commission, LRC, has linked these types of activities to serious psychological harm for the people affected, as the aim is to humiliate and degrade and the proponents are usually successful in this regard. The Garda has reported a significant increase in the number of victims of this crime, especially young people. We were all shocked when we turned on our televisions last Friday night to see how vulnerable our young people are to predators in the online world and it behoves us, as legislators, to move with great haste to extend the offence of harassment to ensure it includes activity online and on social media.

The Government, despite assurances from the previous Minister for Justice and Equality in 2016, has failed to deliver anything in this area. Many loopholes in our current legislation need to be closed to address these unfortunate modern realities and our laws need to be updated in order that we can efficiently prosecute offenders. Parents and concerned citizens are navigating a difficult area at this time. According to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, on average 14% of students aged between 12 and 16 have been cyberbullied, which could be a conservative estimate, while, according to recent EU Kids Online research, 99% of young people aged between nine and 16 in Ireland use the Internet and more than half have set up their own profile on a social networking site. Ofcom in the UK reports that most children spend more than twice as much time on the web as their parents think - an average of 43.5 hours per month as opposed to the 18.8 hours their parents estimate. Further research alleges that more than half of cyberbullying incidents in Ireland happen to children on Facebook and that 25% of women say they have experienced body shaming online.

The LRC report of 2016 recommended the establishment of a digital safety commissioner who would implement existing social media safety measures and also educate people about safe online behaviour as well as working with Government policy. Education is hugely important but this has not happened. I am pleased the Minister said that the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment will examine this. As the Labour Party speakers said, this is essential going forward. Since the LRC report, we have seen example after example of the damage that can be caused by activity online. These include the Dublin man, Matthew Horan, and I hate to use his name, who used sites such as Flic to gather thousands of images of young children, the suicide of a young woman tormented by cyberbullies, the abuse suffered by a former Senator, the threatening and intimidating online messages directed at both private persons and public figures, and many more anecdotes we have heard from our constituents and friends. A constituent of mine took his life because of revenge porn and I also know a young woman who attempted to take her own life again because of revenge porn.

This is a good Bill but we will table amendments on Committee Stage. Technological advances made in recent years have benefited society hugely through the availability of information, the connectivity generated by an online community, and the ability of social media to empower young people and allow them to connect with people all over the world. However, the information overwhelm, the social peer pressure and the significant privacy concerns can at times outweigh these benefits. The web is a place of both opportunity and danger, and self-regulation is insufficient to address harmful communications effectively. The Bill is a good start in getting Ireland up to date with its legislative duty to protect its citizens from the dangers of the online world. I would like to acknowledge the excellent work being carried out by the national anti-bullying research and resource centre in DCU and the special rapporteur on child protection, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, who made excellent recommendations in recent weeks on how to deal with this issue.

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