Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was reported earlier that up to 12 content moderators intend to take legal action against Facebook because of the awfulness of the content to which they have been exposed. This awfulness is directed at users of Facebook. We have had many debates in the House about how to protect people from online abuse. It has now been two and half years since I introduced the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017. There have been numerous calls for the establishment of a digital safety commissioner. I have been constantly told that Government amendments to the Bill are imminent and that it will become law. It was originally promised that it would be enacted by last summer. We were then told it would be done by Christmas. The latter is now only a few weeks away and that is not going to happen. I do not know how many weeks are left in this Dáil session but this is a critical issue, on which there is consensus between the Government and Opposition to the effect that we need to protect people online. When will we see progress on the Bill?

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