Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

I express my condolences and those of the Government to the family of the disability campaigner, Jacqui Browne.

I appreciate that the Deputy, as a man, has identified that this is predominantly a men's issue because violence against women is perpetrated by men. He is right in his identification that the influences on young men at present are considerably different from when he was a young man and certainly from when I was a young man. As I said earlier to Deputy Bacik, we do not see what is really happening online in terms of what young people are exposed to and how the relationship between men and women is being presented. There are some well-known examples of what the Deputy correctly calls misogynists who treat women completely as objects and seek to inform young men how they should treat women in relationships.

The solution, to a large extent, lies with men. I commend the GAA on the huge amount it has done in recognising and trying to combat violence against women. This epidemic, as people have correctly described it, will only be resolved if the vast majority of men recognise the need for them to do work to emphasise its unacceptability. The GAA is working to achieve that, as are other sporting organisations. Those organisations come with a good authority because sport, by definition, is about physical contest and combat. It is about fairness and it is, in many respects, manly. It is an important mechanism by which we can emphasise to young boys and men that using violence against women is never acceptable.

The Deputy asked what can be done about social media companies and the algorithms they use. In the first instance, there is a big responsibility on social media companies to ensure they do not allow their platforms to become platforms of misogyny and violence against women. If they do, their business will suffer. They have a huge societal responsibility to ensure action is taken in this regard.

In terms of the EU Digital Services Act and digital services co-ordination, there is a requirement that we get our act together at a European-wide level. This is not a problem that can simply be resolved through domestic legislation in Ireland. It requires an EU response. At present, as the Deputy knows, there is a divergence between views in the United States and views in Europe as to the extent of regulation required. The Government is very clear that we need regulation to ensure we combat the spread of this activity online. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it is extremely difficult to combat and confront such activity. However, it starts with responsibility being exercised by social media providers and, second, ensuring we get our digital services legislation correct at EU level.

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