Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is a good Galwegian and a great Minister of State. I welcome him back to the House and to a ministerial role. He will serve that role well while serving his constituency well also. I am delighted to see him back in the job. In my previous life, I managed 300 personal computers, an open Internet connection and an e-learning platform for a college of further education. Throughout my entire time doing that, from 1995 until I became the president of the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, I fought for uncensored, free access to all platforms for my students. I hold the right to free speech and free engagement as a dear and cherished thing to which we should all have access. In saying that, the Bill brought forward by my colleague, Senator Freeman, is essential because there is an age at which free access is fine but only to a certain degree.

In my first week as president of the Teachers Union of Ireland I had to visit a school where two 12 year old girls had committed suicide. Shortly afterwards, I had a meeting with the principal of the school. He made a point that is worth putting on record because there are people who will claim this is nanny state legislation that seeks to control things. The principal told me that while children come to school at 9 a.m. and go home at 4 p.m., somehow or other he is responsible for them 24-7 between 1 September and 30 June. He told me that when the children go home their parents, acting as responsible parents do, ensure they are fed nourishing food, do their homework exercises and whatever chores have to be done around the house and insist they wash, clean their teeth, say their prayers, if religious, and get into bed. The one thing the parents do not do, however, is take digital devices off their children. Instead, they allow them to go to bed with a mobile phone and access to the Internet, texting, WhatsApp and the various other platforms.

In the couple of years I travelled around second level schools, I saw some of the things that are done via social media, not only student to student but, in some cases, student to teacher. We suddenly realise that while social media, on which the Minister of State and I are both active, is a wonderful tool, by God, we pay a high price for it in terms of some of the things said on some of the platforms wee use. I recall looking at my Twitter account one weekend. It came to the stage where I had to step away from it because it would have had a serious impact on my mental health. Some of the statements made on these social platforms are outrageous. People can say and do as they want.

During my time in the education and e-learning environment, we were given a lecture by a representative of one of the Internet search engine providers. The individual in question spoke at length about how his company's search engine would revolutionise education because it would provide free access to accurate information. One man at the lecture put up his hand and asked if it was true that the company provided only limited access to information in China. The response was that it did so because the Chinese Government would not allow full access. In that case, the questioner stated, the search engine company was not giving full access to factual information everywhere. He continued by asking if this meant it was possible to control access to information and content. The response was that this was possible. This cuts straight to Senator Freeman's Bill as it shows that Internet service and search engine providers can control and manage what is out there in the ether. Senator Higgins spoke about applications such as WhatsApp messaging as well as plain, straightforward text messaging. While the Bill goes a long way towards controlling information, we need to make provision for liability for unsolicited person-to-person messages or messages with dangerous content.

I will support the Bill. I hope to be able to add to it some of the measures in my Bill on digital equipment in schools. I also hope other measures will be added to the Bill over time.

We must keep front and centre that we are talking about children, who are the most vulnerable in our society. Children have access to content which is age inappropriate. As Senator Ó Céidigh said, they have access to instructions on how to commit suicide and diets that are supposed to make people slim and good-looking but which are probably killing them or doing serious harm. As a society, we have to take responsibility for that. Unfortunately, the Minister for Communications, Climate Change and Environment, Deputy Bruton, will carry the can for that.

We have to expedite this legislation and pass it quickly. It needs to be beefed up and I know Senator Freeman will be open to including additional provisions. I commend the Senator and thank her for bringing forward the Bill. It is important that it is in the public domain and people are talking about this issue. A national conversation is needed on what we find acceptable for our children. As an educator, the Minister of State will also have concerns and will have seen in his professional career how good information technology can be in education and how harmful it can be when misused.