Seanad debates

Monday, 11 July 2022

Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage

 

10:00 am

Photo of Malcolm ByrneMalcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not intend to speak at any length on amendments Nos. 100 and 125 on the basis that the purpose of Report Stage is to report on Committee Stage, and not simply to repeat the arguments of the previous Stage of the Bill. I believe that brevity is a virtue.

I acknowledge the extensive discussions we have had with the Minister's officials on this but, on amendment No. 125 in particular, I believe it will have to be the case with this legislation that we keep it under constant review. Fears remain about social media companies not taking some of the measures within this legislation seriously. We have a lot to learn from the Australian e-safety commissioner. We fully expect legislation around the implementation of the EU's Digital Services Act in due course. If it comes during the time of this Oireachtas we may be revisiting some of these issues. The key will be the extent to which there is co-operation between the tech companies and the media commission, and the very welcome online safety commissioner.

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