Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Much of society has moved online. Applying for a passport, banking and whatever it may be is now online. It is not realistic or fair to expect young people not to be online and it is not fair on young people that they are not online. The age verification goes some way but as many speakers have brought up already, the algorithms behind social media are an issue. Much of the discussion here is about social media, and rightfully so, but there is much online content outside social media that is having an impact on people, not just on young people, though we are rightly focusing on them. The algorithms behind it are the issue and young people and vulnerable people are at most risk. These algorithms are impacting what we watch, what we believe, and even how we feel about ourselves and our body image. We have seen a complete breakdown in society, be it far right or far left, and these echo chambers that have been created because of these algorithms. It has created a severe danger. Misogyny is an issue. We have seen young men becoming more violent and not respecting women and their peers as they should. That is the core of the argument about the algorithms that we need to tackle with the big tech companies. As I said, it is not just young people but ourselves. It is grown adults who are being impacted by what we believe, what we see, what is true and what is false. It is important that we acknowledge that.

The second thing is to acknowledge that the Digital Services Act and online safety code will give Ireland real enforcement powers for the first time but platforms must assess the risks. We have not seen that to date. There needs to be more of an onus on these platforms to assess the risks not just to young people and vulnerable people but to the masses, particularly Irish citizens, because many Irish citizens are being brought down avenues which they would have thought incomprehensible two or three years ago. People are now becoming anti-immigrant, anti-this and anti-that, or anti-government when they might have been pro-government beforehand. That is the crux of the issue. As much as there is a lot being done and more will be done, we need to ensure there is a complete review of the algorithms and what algorithms we allow to be run in this State, particularly when we look at age verification for those under the age of 16 and 18.

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