Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is an issue I have had with regard to gambling. It is possible for the Internet service providers, ISPs, in the country to ensure that external content can be blocked at the point of entry. I know there are ways around that. I have worked in the area long enough to know that there are ways around most things. ISPs must be held responsible for the material allowed into the country in the drafting of the Bill, if the Minister is not prepared to see Senator Freeman's Bill go the whole way. We must start holding responsible the platform providers, who have washed their hands and said it is nothing to do with them and that it is the individuals who put this stuff up. The type of site referred to by Senator Freeman, where somebody is taught how to become anorexic is repulsive. The type of site where somebody is put through a series of steps in order to take his or her life is outrageous. There is no graded system that can measure that. The site should be gone and the individuals behind it should be arrested in whatever jurisdiction they are in. However, ISPs have a responsibility to control content.

I went through this myself as the head of an IT section in a further education college. The question was about what we would or would not control with regard to what students could see on the college site. We took the view that our students were adults and we were not going to limit content but from time to time, we encountered problems with people who transgressed what would be normal behaviour in society.

A simple Bill, which we have in front of us, that would prevent those sites from operating would be worth considering as an immediate step to at least stop that much. At least, we could walk away and say that no sites that teach people how to commit suicide, become anorexic or injure or harm other people will be allowed. We will never stop bullies. Bullies have been around since time immemorial. If we went back to the time of Christ, there were bullies then and there will be bullies. Sadly, many of them leave the playground and come into the office and are as bad in the office as they were in the playground.We are never going to stop that but we can limit the speed at which it is transmitted. I believe that is what Senator Freeman is trying to do.