Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today we saw Google's announcement that it would stop accepting all advertisements relating to the eighth amendment in order, as it said, to protect the integrity of the process. This follows Facebook's announcement that it will only accept advertisements from Ireland on its platform, although this will simply mean that linked organisations will be exposed in Ireland and organisations will have to register here and may then continue to advertise.

There are no spending limits in respect of the referendum anyway, so it will make little real difference. However, it is imperative that we as politicians act to regulate the information included on posters and in online advertisements to ensure that the information given out to the public is based on facts and not on outright lies, myths or emotive untruths. We have all seen cases around the country where posters have been placed near schools and outside churches. These posters use imagery and information that is clearly wrong, that cannot be checked and that is not verifiable at all. We must act to ensure that the use of such posters cannot continue. It is vitally important for both sides of the campaign, the yes side and the no side, to put out accurate images and information in order that people can make a decision based on what they feel themselves.

We have seen the posters held up outside the hospitals. We have seen all that. We have seen the fake statistics and factually incorrect responses that also have been used in respect of the campaign. This is all wrong. These are things on which we can act and make a decision. The announcements from Google and Facebook are welcome but we can also be proactive and ensure that posters carry respectful images and images which will sway the argument one way or the other rather than those which are just used as a shock tactic. That is vitally important. I know it is probably too late to do it for this campaign, but what are the Taoiseach's plan to do this in order to ensure that referendum campaigns will be carried out in a proper manner and that proper images will be used on posters? This is something which we in this House can directly control. We do not have to rely on Facebook or Google or anybody else to do it for us.

See this speech in context