Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being here today to discuss this important topic on the floor of the Dáil. Right now, young people in this country and across Europe and the world who have access to technology are being failed. Lives and mental health are being damaged as a result of online bullying and harassment. Some of us are aware of horrendous cases where lives have been lost. We have a responsibility in this House to protect young people online and offline and also to listen to them. The damage algorithms do is lethal for young men with radical ideology poured down on top of them and young women in relation to physical appearance.

Fianna Fáil has been doing a lot of work in this area. I, as spokesperson on education and youth, have taken a lead in this area and it is something I am deeply passionate about. We held an online survey earlier this year of parents, parenting in the digital age. We had a lot of findings out of that. One I want to bring the attention of the Minister was that less than 10% of parents who participated in our survey said they were very confident in understanding the online world their children are a part of, while 40% or so were somewhat confident, but the reality is we have to support parents too. Technology is moving at a rapid pace and parents cannot be expected to keep up with it without supports. Fianna Fáil also held a workshop with young people here in Leinster House. Some of the reports coming out of that were quite staggering. I was very passionate that we should bring in young people to discuss this because I do not believe we can leave their voices out of the conversation. I will read out some of the points young people brought to us. "I used to use Roblox and I do have an account but I stopped using it and buying Roblox because of their predator issues and the way they handle those types of situations". Another young person said, "Discord is full of predators and shady people. It also has links to Roblox and they are trying to move you off-platform. You can send photos and videos through private chat and its servers which can solicit images and illegal substances, etc." Another said, "I previously played Fortnite but I no longer do because there are lots of threats of violence".

I welcome the Minister's work on and the discussion around the digital wallet. It is very promising. I understand this issue is very topical with the under-16s ban in Australia. Time will tell how successful that is. I am highly sceptical, as I have said previously. We need to include young people and their voices and listen to them, understanding that they can find VPNs and workarounds. What apps would be in and what apps would be out? Would an under-16s ban produce a constant whack-a-mole process? We can do a lot of work. We can and must regulate more and ensure there is an onus on social media companies. We must listen and protect young people.

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