Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I may be wrong but I believe it is the first time he has been in the Chamber since his reappointment. Not only is he being welcomed as a Galway man but also in his current position.

The Bill is very welcome. It is a significant statement by this House and a problem we need to acknowledge. There has been much talk in this space in the past six to ten months. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment, which spent hundreds of hours in the past two years dealing with pre-legislative scrutiny of several Bills, including the Digital Safety Commissioner Bill. The space we are in with regard to this issue is frightening. The self-regulation model has failed us. The space has moved so fast we have not regulated for it. The issues have become apparent in all the hearings we have held in recent months. Major multinationals have control over data, the content put on the Internet, who takes it down, the process of taking it down, who takes it down and the speed at which they will act. That has become another issue that needs to be addressed. It needs to be changed and regulation is required, not only nationally but internationally also. There are many aspects that we need to tie together.

Something that happens in Australia can be viewed by me on my phone 30 seconds later. We have seen that. That is a problem for us. I will not mention the providers because it would be unfair but we have had several hearings with some of the key stakeholders. We are talking about exceptionally large multinational companies. A major meeting was held in the House of Commons on this issue which was attended by chairpersons of communications committees from Europe, Canada, the United States and even Brazil. The chief executive of one of the largest organisations, Facebook, refused to turn up at the meeting. He would not engage, even by way of a video link. It is an indication of the power of that machine when the chairpersons of 13 or 14 communications committees from across the world come together but the chief executive of one of the largest companies in this area refuses to deal with us. That is the power we are dealing with, and it is frightening.

We need legislation in this area and debates such as this one because as the Minister, Deputy Bruton, said recently, the self-regulation model needs to change. This space has changed, and we need to move into it. In many ways, we are behind the curve on this issue because the space has moved so quickly. As a parent, I am very aware of that. I have a seven year old daughter who could almost tell me how to run the Internet. It is frightening. Even in terms of basic content on YouTube on TV, we see the advertisements. When there are parents in the room the children come up to us and tell us exactly what they want for Christmas in July. We wonder where they get all the information. It is being sold to them because they can work through these mediums and, as parents, we need to educate ourselves about that.

This Bill is a positive measure. The Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment would gladly take a Bill such as this one, go through it and work with the Senator.I am referring to the kind of information and debate we need as a society so we can make this space safer for everyone.