Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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We have all read of the heartache endured by a mother in Cork last week as she witnessed people callously filming her son's final moments. I extend sympathy to this woman and her family at this sad and extremely difficult time. Unfortunately, this mother is not the first to feel such horror. Families right across the country have also been subjected to similar pitiful actions. It has become common for people to record tragic events for the sole purpose of sharing or threatening to share them on social media. Victims of road tragedies, injured persons, those suffering shock and distress, and people crying for help have all had their anguish and fear reduced to public online spectacle. Misfortunes are reduced to grotesque entertainment. Emergency responders have frequently spoken out about the heartless behaviour of onlookers who turn tragedy into a clickbait opportunity.

It is not only incidents like this that find their way into the public domain. Violent brawls, racist attacks, abusive actions and bullying are also considered fair game for recording. Blackmail is commonly used to threaten the victims, who live in fear of the content being made public or being sent to families or authorities. The grief and torment that these threats can cause is incalculable. Many victims are blackmailed for money. Others are coerced into illegal or unsavoury actions in order to buy the silence of their tormentors. Either way, the holder of the recording holds the trump card and the victim is rendered powerless to escape his or her clutches.

The harsh reality is that, nowadays, absolutely nothing is deemed off-limits. The sheer power of social media has destroyed social conscience. More and more, it is responsible for wiping out respect and basic human values. Insulting, offensive, humiliating and degrading commentary is now the norm. This is mainly triggered by anonymous keyboard cowards. It is a malaise that is going unchecked. What kind of warped mentality leads to the posting of deliberately malicious and vicious tirades against defenceless people?

The ferocity and intensity of hateful comments must be acted against. Social media has become the scourge of our times. It is a 24-7 presence and it is saturating the minds of people of all ages. It is destroying lives and we seem powerless to stop it. Our impressionable young people who are growing up in a world that is dominated by social media are being bombarded by inappropriate content that is becoming more easily accessible. Coimisiún na Meán has a much-welcomed online safety code which is designed to ensure that social media platforms put in place measures to prevent uploading and sharing of harmful content. Will the Minister outline the brief of Coimisiún na Meán?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I start by expressing my condolences to the family of Luke Hyde. It is deeply concerning that the first instinct of some of those present when he tragically lost his life was not to help but to take out their phones and stream the incident. It is a failure of basic human decency to take the view that social media clout is more important than the dignity and privacy of someone in extreme distress in their last moments. When this sort of content is posted, very real harm is done. The trauma of loss that families experience is compounded. There is a real risk that someone close to a victim of a serious accident could find out through online content. These videos are not news. Images captured by the media depicting accidents and their immediate aftermath, typically intended for news purposes, seldom include depictions of bodies to tell their stories.

We routinely hear of An Garda Síochána asking that footage of incidents, particularly tragic accidents, not be circulated. I think we can all support that message. As the Deputy has said, the online media platforms have a role to play in removing the content as quickly as possible. A new, powerful regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, was established by the last Government to enforce accountability in the sector. Platforms are required to assess content and decide whether it is illegal or in breach of a platform's terms and conditions. If the platform fails to apply its terms and conditions, Coimisiún na Meán may review its actions and take action as appropriate. As provided for under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, an coimisiún adopted and applied the new online safety code for designated video platforms established in Ireland, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X.

The code sets out what the platforms must do to protect users. In particular, they are obliged to put measures in place to protect children from harmful online content, have age assurance measures where appropriate, and provide parental controls and user-friendly, transparent reporting and flagging mechanisms.

On resources, significant Exchequer funding was provided to support this and an coimisiún has expanded from approximately 40 staff to 200 at present.

Regarding the broader legislative matter of online videos or images that may be put up, the criminal nature of this is a policy matter within the Department of Justice and depending on the nature of such an incident, it may already constitute a criminal offence, for example, a harassment offence under the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997. Online social media platforms have an important role to play in removing this content as soon as possible. The longer this material stays online, the greater its reach, the more it can spread and grow and the more harm it causes.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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The Minister mentioned TikTok. Recently, the data protection commissioner fined it €530 million for the improper personal data transfer from Ireland and the EU to China. The most common question people are asking since this news broke is why such data would be sent to China. Is it that we do not have the capacity to store it here ourselves? Why was the transfer deemed inappropriate and improper? What was the reasoning and logic was behind the €530 million fine? Did the transfer of this information pose a threat? What was the reason for it?

People are also asking what this personal data includes. What kind of personal data is being sent to China for storage? Will the transfer of personal data from Ireland to other countries and continents be an ongoing occurrence? How will that be monitored?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Data Protection Commission, DPC, plays a critical role as one of the largest EU data protection authorities and the Government acknowledges its strong track record in carrying out its duties. As the lead supervising authority across many cross-border cases, Ireland is generally the first point of response for new and emerging data protection issues across the EU. By law, it is entirely independent of the Department of Justice and Government.

It leads the EU on the quantum of monetary fines imposed on draft decisions and the number of corrective measures enforced against online platforms. Its decisions have been approved by fellow data protection authorities in more than 90% of cases.

I am aware, as the Deputy referenced, relating to the announcement that the data protection commissioner found TikTok infringed the GDPR regarding its transfers of EEA user data to China as well as its transparency requirements. I note the decision was also reached in consultation with its peer regulators across Europe, as required under the GDPR and no objections were raised to this decision. Government is conscious of the commitment to deliver effective data protection regulation and privacy rights in the context of the DPC's role in the EU.