Results 3,021-3,040 of 8,445 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be brief again. These are excellent amendments. Senator Cassells is right. The reaction to the amendments is a sign that they are powerful amendments that would make a difference to the efficacy of the Bill. I remember being in America just before the first dotcom crash, at an event in Denver where there were people in cowboy hats telling people to ride the light on the first go of...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I encourage the Minister to engage with Senator Byrne. The Minister mentioned the criminal sanction for refusal to comply with an order and that is where it kicks in. It comes back to the question of patterns, for example, if the same persons are in charge when there are multiple breaches, either in the same company or in different companies. There may be a breach involving an individual...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 192a: In page 88, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: “(ga) levels of risk of exposure to disinformation when using designated online services, and levels of risk of harm from such exposure,”.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 193: In page 92, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “(2A) A record of any consultations conducted under subsection (2) shall be kept and will include the rationale by which the Commission deemed the person to be appropriate to consult with, and such records shall be deposited with the Minister and laid before both Houses of the...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is my intention to table a version of this that will remove the requirement for laying but will, nonetheless, have a requirement for transparency. I will withdraw the amendment and bring a revised amendment forward on Report Stage.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment 194: In page 92, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “(2A) In developing an e-Commerce compliance strategy, the Commission shall consult with appropriate persons with scientific expertise pertaining to the impact of e-Commerce on energy demand, carbon equivalent emissions and the environment more broadly.”. There is a remit within the powers,...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: In light of this, I will look elsewhere. I am looking to how I can appropriately insert the core principle. Perhaps the Minister is correct and it would be better dealt with in another section. In that context, I withdraw the amendment.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With regard to the same section on age-inappropriate online content, two examples are mentioned in respect of violence and pornography. I reserve the right to bring in other areas. It is a section that could be very useful in addressing areas where there may be a reluctance to have a kind of activity fully designated. I come at this in a different way in some of the later sections. When...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 194a: In page 93, line 36, after "content" to insert "presented in a manner". It was brought to our attention by a number of people that this section is not clear. The text of the Bill, which reads, "Online content by which a person applies force to the body of another, or causes another to believe on reasonable grounds that he or she is likely immediately to be...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I still think it is a little unclear. The Minister addressed the issue of the concern about exclusion but did not address my concern in respect of inadvertent inclusion. The framing seems to be quite wide. We are relying on the word "by" versus "in". Is it sufficient that we say it is "by" the content the force is applied and not "in" the content? Is this sufficiently distinct or clear?...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw the amendment and come back to it. My point is not with regard to it not being covered. My concern is that there might be a danger of it being interpreted as referring to looking at an image of something happening. I want to be clear this provision is not to do with the content. It is not that a video of somebody applying force is wrong. It is limited to the video itself...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 194b: In page 93, line 36, after “another” to insert “(including the sending of flashing images to people with photo-sensitive epilepsy with intent to induce a seizure)”.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 196: In page 100, line 5, after "may" to insert "reasonably". Amendments Nos. 196 to 198, inclusive, are about putting in place stronger safeguards in respect of the powers of authorised officers. These are very wide in the Bill and there may need to be better caveats. Amendment No. 196 would insert the word "reasonably" after the word "may" in the preamble to the...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept the Minister's point on "reasonableness" on amendment No. 196 but I disagree on the Minister's points relating to amendments Nos. 197 and 198. There is a very large discretionary power being given to the authorised officer for as long as he or she reasonably believes necessary. There must be some form of time limit. I am not necessarily suggesting this should be every eight weeks...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 197: In page 101, lines 13 and 14, to delete ", for such period as the authorised officer reasonably considers necessary" and substitute the following: "as the authorised officer reasonably considers necessary or proportionate, for a period which is reasonable and proportionate. Such a period shall not exceed 8 weeks without a review by the superior officer of the...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 198: In page 101, lines 28 to 30, to delete all words from and including "be" in line 28 down to and including "appropriate" in line 30 and substitute the following: "be accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána and such and so many other persons, as he or she considers appropriate".

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 199: In page 102, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: "(8A) Where material or equipment obtained in the course of the investigation in the exercise of powers under section 139ZC, is subsequently not found to be relevant to the investigation, it shall be returned to the provider at the earliest possible opportunity.". This is an important provision and...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: For example, an officer may seize 20 laptops and only one might be relevant. There may be some equipment that is relevant to an investigation but other equipment that is not relevant. That is the context. My amendment does not relate to a subsequent investigation but is very much designed to be relevant during an investigation. I was adding something somewhat different with this amendment...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 200: In page 102, to delete lines 12 to 15. This seeks the deletion of section 139ZC(9), which provides that, "Where an authorised officer has exercised his or her powers under this section in good faith, the Commission shall indemnify the authorised officer against all actions or claims howsoever arising in respect of the exercise of those powers." Providing such a...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister and I are each imagining different mischievous actors. There are ranges of mischievous actors. My concern is that I do not see provisions in the Bill in respect of the coimisiún and how there will be an assertion in respect of good faith, what the mechanisms will be in that regard and what are the consequences for authorised officers who are the subject of multiple...