Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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75. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the efforts by her Department to address recommendations from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media that proposed an individual complaints mechanism for harmful online content with regard to the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2304/22]

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The next question is in the name of Deputy Alan Farrell but is being taken by Deputy Higgins.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I will begin by thanking the Minister for progressing everything she is doing in terms of online safety and media regulation. I ask her to consider including an individual complaints mechanism for harmful online content in the legislation she is progressing. This is being called for by many of the NGOs that do such fantastic work in this space.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Thanks are due to the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media for their extensive work on the pre-legislative scrutiny report on the general scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill. This included 33 recommendations, which shows how complex and important this legislation is. One of those recommendations was that an individual complaints mechanism for harmful online content be provided. This is a matter I have been considering closely for some time.

The issue of providing for avenues of redress in terms of individual pieces of content in the online world is complex. The approach in the development of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill to date has been to provide the online safety commissioner with the power to require that regulated online services have effective complaints mechanisms in place with full powers of audit and investigation provided to the commissioner in that respect. The Bill also provides for a super-complaints mechanism whereby nominated bodies may notify the commissioner of concerns regarding a designated online service's compliance with an online safety code or relating to the availability of harmful online content on a service.

I am very conscious that the introduction of an individual complaints mechanism raises a number of complex practical and legal issues, including in terms of the sheer volume of content online. I am also conscious that Ireland will be regulating a number of services on an EU-wide basis, which involves regulating on behalf of a population of 450 million, and of questions relating to due process requirements and how quickly decisions could reasonably be made by the online safety commissioner.

In light of the recommendations of the Oireachtas joint committee, I am examining how these issues can be addressed. I announced last week that I will shortly establish an expert advisory group. I hope the membership of the group will be announced in the coming days. This group will report on this matter within 90 days with recommendations as to how best to address this issue. Following the report of the group, I will consider how to give effect to any recommendations through amendments to the Bill.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased the Minister has established this advisory group and that it has such a tight timeframe, 90 days, in which to report back. It is a very complex area, as we know. We need to make sure there is a path through which to escalate individual complaints. I appreciate that this would involve a large population because of so many companies having their EU headquarters here. If there are any legal ways around that, we need to explore them. I also acknowledge the work of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, in this area with regard to making sure that Coco's Law came into effect. As legislators, we have a great responsibility to ensure the safety of our young people online, but the social media companies share that responsibility. Anonymous accounts and pile-ons can do a lot of damage to people's confidence and mental health. We need to acknowledge that. The fact that, as the Minister has said, so many social media companies are headquartered here in Ireland and, indeed, here in Dublin gives us the opportunity to become world leaders in this area. I ask the social media companies to step up to the mark.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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It is exactly for all of those reasons that I have established this expert group to examine the proposals. There are significant complex legal and practical issues in this area. For example, in the constitutional and legal context, there is the complexity of upholding fundamental rights and respecting due process requirements for complainants, online services and the uploaders of content that is the subject of a complaint. I direct the Deputy to the binding codes and the real teeth this commissioner will have. Provision is to be made for fines of up to €20 million or 10% of turnover, whichever is greater, for criminal liability for those involved, search warrants and the blocking of platforms.

Within the expert advisory group, I hope to have the legal expertise required, particularly with regard to complexities of regulating the online world; knowledge of, and expertise in, the operation of complaints systems in other regulatory contexts; experience in the protection of children's rights in an online environment; and knowledge of, and expertise in, the practical requirements, such as resourcing an organisation required to operate an individual complaints system. That is what I hope to have in this expert group.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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That sounds comprehensive and is really welcome.

It is important that the online safety and media commission will have teeth.

A few months ago, I attended a protest organised by young people who feel it is time we as a society faced up to Facebook. Social media companies of this type use algorithms to target people to sell advertisements and generate engagement. As we all saw when Frances Haugen faced up to Facebook, doing so can have massive consequences. Social media offer major opportunities to all of us to sell our message and connect with people. There are many positives, but there are also threats, including to society, people's mental health and safety and our democracy. We must face up to that. I compliment the Minister on all she is doing in leading in this space. It is so important that the online safety and media commission tackles these important issues.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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That is the intention. I spoke previously about the detail and real teeth of this commissioner. We have already started the recruitment process for the commissioner, in parallel with the progress of the Bill through both Houses. I will be initiating the Bill in the Seanad, and I have written to the relevant joint committee in that regard. That we have started the recruitment process for the online safety and media commissioner shows how seriously this Government is taking this issue. This Government and I will always seek to protect children online rather than the technology companies. This is about safety online, and that is where our focus is.