Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wonder whether any of us remembers Bebo. I remember asking when my children were growing up what it was all about and what was happening. It was a very innocent time. Providers eventually looked around and said they could make progress on the concept and make a profit from it. This is achieved by our allowing our children to be subjected to extremely unacceptable images and whatever else is put up on the Internet that cause them much angst and despair and at times send them into very dark places. The children are subjected to these before they have had a chance to grow up inquisitive, funny, smart, crying, bold and so on. There is a dark side that Internet providers have tapped into in our children's heads. We need to protect them. I lament the innocent days of Bebo and the question of how it was to be saved. This Bill intends to achieve what is required in this regard.

I believe Senator Freeman and Senator Noone were with me at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs attended by representatives of Facebook. The providers sat there and had the audacity to say how wonderful they were, how glossy they were, how caring they were and how wonderful their approach was to the protection of children in the circumstances in question. It belied the fact that all the company is interested in is profit. The company left up for days on end a video of an online suicide. It left up for days a video of an assault on a child and found nothing in it that was in breach of its terms. It was a vicious assault on a child by an adult, not by other children.

I am delighted to see a provision for the Minister to re-evaluate, reassess and amend this Bill. I would like to believe the Bill will be able to cover more high-risk areas, including gambling. I refer to the targeting of our children by online games that get them to trade something for something else. Eventually the money creeps in and one can buy extra teddy bears for €2, for example. This activity is occurring and the games are aimed at children of three years and upwards. That is quite concerning. Gambling is normalised as a game from childhood.

I thank Senator Freeman and commend her on introducing the Bill. I trust her. I thank her for her ongoing commitment to children and to their childhoods, happiness and safety.