Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I did it according to the law of the House. There were no markings on the truck and it was my only means of transport on the day so I followed the rules of the House. It did not break any rules, but it showed some of the TDs in Government parties who did not realise the amount of tax that was being taken on fuel. Deputies were voting on things in the House that they did understand. Social media taught them about that. The other thing social media can do is hold the Government to account. Members of the Government go on radio and television and say one thing, but they then come into the House and vote the exact opposite. They vote against their counties. Social media can get word out to the people and tell them about what the Government is doing. That is what it can do. It can hold the Government to account.

To look at the other side of it, it can be seen that people are using social media for the wrong reasons. I will use a couple of examples. If somebody has a road accident and is fatally injured, and an individual takes a picture of that and puts it up online without families even knowing about it, that person should be held 100% accountable, as should people who put pornography online. People who caused the issues in Dublin, including the rioting that went on, the criminal damage to property and business owners and the harm that was done to children, should 100% be held to account. Those who use social media for violence should 100% be held to account.

However, there is a lot of good out there that social media does. If it is looked at from the point of view of Independents getting onto the airwaves and on television, we do not get that. Part of the budget pays for RTÉ so favouritism comes to the likes of Government TDs when it comes to getting on air. In addition, the Government funds other social media outlets. When it is looked at from the point of view of people getting their voices out there, social media holds the Government to account because it means we can get out the message and show people in this country what is really happening.

Hate speech legislation is now coming through the House. The Government is trying to stop anyone who wants a democratic debate with it being on a social media network. This is some of the stuff it is trying to stop. That is not democratic and is not fair on anyone who wants to hear the real stories that are going on. There is an awful lot of fraudulent stuff going on, and a lot that goes on social media that is not even accurate. It should be 100% cut out, but people in this country should be entitled to see the good stuff, the promotional stuff and content about what happens. Sometimes, you could make a film in here because some of the stuff the Government comes up with could be laughable, if it were put out on social media.

We want proper regulations to be put in place for people who misuse media for hatred, violence, and against children, and who directly target people out of hatred that causes violence. That is what I am fully intent on. Those people should be held to account. People who are sharing such content on social media should be held to account. However, there are also many people and young children who do not understand the content of something they share, and do not realise it is bullying that goes on among them, until it hits home and somebody suffers because of it. Again, that can be brought back to a policy where the amount of media presence can be limited for people who need to be educated on it first. Some children have phones at the age of five or six and can enter all sorts of different social media networks. That is wrong. We need to make sure that people are educated and for those who do something and make a mistake, that the mistake can be rectified.

That has to be looked at too. From the point of view of media, we need to look after the people who have good stuff and we must look after the people who have proper democratic debates and highlight the things that are wrong. I am 100% against anyone outside of that who has come along and used it for the wrong reasons.

Consider, for example, the people who were outside the US ambassador's house last night and the posts they put up on social media about what they were doing out there. It is okay to protest once it is peaceful protest and does not harm anything, rather than what we saw in Dublin last week, which was horrible. People's lives and properties were put at risk. It was all instigated by a small minority of people. Through social media they were able to gather very fast . We need to target the likes of that. If we break down that process, when we see something like it, we must target it and make sure. Otherwise, we are not only putting people at risk, we are also putting gardaí and front-line workers at risk. Why not concentrate on something like that and get that right first regarding those people who create harm and hate? We must concentrate on that first and make sure we cover that.

The Government has it wrong on the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill. It needs to make sure there is freedom of speech up to a certain amount, but when it is about organising crime, then we need to make sure a provision is built in properly for the protection of children and people going forward.

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