Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 95: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the prevalence of Irish based material on social networking sites (details supplied) glorifying drug taking and appearing to incite violence, rioting and racism; if steps are being taken to discourage, monitor and respond to such postings; if official contact has been made with the relevant network hosts; if any related Garda investigations are underway with a view to taking prosecutions under provisions of the Incitement to Hatred Act, Public Order Acts or other legislation. [18334/09]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 96: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he is satisfied that sufficient legislation exists to tackle the prevalence of Irish based material on social networking sites (details supplied) glorifying drug taking and appearing to incite violence, rioting and racism; and if not, if his Department will produce legislative proposals on the matter. [18335/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to answer Questions Nos. 95 and 96 together.

As the Deputy is no doubt aware, the internet is an international and world wide phenomenon, it has no borders and no single organisation controlling it. Therefore efforts to combat illegal and harmful materials and activities on it can often be hampered by the multiplicity of jurisdictions, differing legal systems and differing societal norms. In this particular instance many of the major Social Networking Sites, including the site referred to by the Deputy, available here in Ireland are hosted outside this jurisdiction, principally in the United States. As such they are subject to the US jurisdiction.

While acknowledging these difficulties, I should emphasis that there is a robust self-regulatory framework for internet service providers (ISPs) in operation here in Ireland which actively encourages the adoption of best practice procedures aimed at limiting the proliferation of illegal and harmful content on-line. The first thing someone should do if they are having issues with content on a Social Networking Site is report the matter to the website owners. A person can use the website reporting tools to do this and should also contact the service provider through its Customer Care or Report Abuse facility. The Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) Code of Practice and Ethics sets out clear guidelines and minimum standards in respect of dealing with complaints regarding suspected illegal or harmful material on-line. Members of the public may report such material to the ISPAI hotline.ie service. If the material is hosted here and deemed to be illegal and in contravention of Irish law, ISPAI members are obliged to remove such materials.

I wish to advise the Deputy that in 2008, the European Commission convened 18 of Europe's major social networking operators as well as researchers and child welfare organisations, to form a European Social Networking Task Force to discuss guidelines for the use of social networking sites by children. These guidelines were to be adopted voluntarily by the European industry. The Safer Social Networking Principles for EU were signed on Safer Internet Day, February 10 2009, in Luxembourg. The Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU have been developed to provide good practice recommendations for the providers of social networking and other user interactive sites, to enhance the safety of children and young people using their services. The Principles provide that social networking providers should, inter alia, provide a mechanism for reporting inappropriate content, respond to notifications of illegal content or conduct and should review their systems for examining reports of inappropriate or illegal content. The European Commission has indicated that it will monitor on an ongoing basis the implementation of the Social Networking Principles.