Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Regarding the Apple and Google issue, before polling began, Apple and Google removed jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's smart voting app from the iOS and Android stores, respectively. Ireland has no special sight of or role in adjudicating on the decisions of multinational companies in different jurisdictions. I do not have access to all the information and considerations which led Apple and Google to make the decisions they did. I am sure, however, that the well-being and safety of their local staff ranked highly in their considerations. The focus should be on the Russian Government and on the laws and intimidating behaviour which allowed it to exercise censorship across a wide variety of media during the elections. Individual companies are placed in difficult positions because of this unacceptable shrinking of media freedom and civil society space. I am not excusing it; I am just saying we do not know the full facts. Certainly, I do not. Perhaps the Deputy has more facts than I have. As a founding member of the Freedom Online Coalition, Ireland believes the human rights we enjoy must be protected online. The Internet and social media have revolutionised the free flow of information and knowledge and have played an important role in documenting human rights violations and abuses.

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