Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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509. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the establishment of a digital safety commissioner, as recommended by the Law Reform Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49890/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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As the Deputy will be aware through his work as Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, which is currently considering the subject of online safety for children and young adults, the issue of online safety is of vital interest and importance to citizens. It is also a complex area that straddles the responsibilities of many Departments.

There have been a number of reports on this topic, most notably the Internet Content Governance Advisory Group's report from 2014, and the Law Reform Commission's report on Harmful Communications and Digital Safetypublished in September 2016.  There have also been a number of initiatives at European level which are of specific relevance to this area, including the European Commission's Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speechin 2016 and its more recent Communication in September 2017 titled Tackling Illegal Content Online - Towards an enhanced responsibility of online platforms.

Given the cross-cutting nature of online safety, I held a meeting on Tuesday 21 November with my colleagues, the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. It was agreed at that meeting that an Open Policy Debate, to be held in early 2018, would be the most appropriate way to progress this matter.

My Department will lead this initiative in cooperation with the Departments of Justice and Equality and Children and Youth Affairs and other relevant Departments.  My Department will be engaging with the relevant online platforms to ensure their full participation in the initiative, and will also invite parents' groups and other key stakeholders to take part.  A key objective of the Open Policy Debate will be to raise awareness in respect of the actions which are already taking place in this area at an Irish and European level, and identify any gaps which need to be addressed.