Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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479. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if her Department has reservations regarding the scope of data collection associated with the provisions contained in the EU proposed CSA Regulation 2022/0155 CSAR; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60721/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The proposal for a Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse (2022/0155) was published on 11 May 2022.  This proposal follows from the July 2020 EU strategy for a More Effective Fight Against Child Sexual Abuse, which set out a comprehensive response to the growing threat of child sexual abuse both offline and online, by improving prevention, investigation and assistance to victims.  The proposal builds on the Digital Services Act, which lays down horizontal rules in relation to illegal content, and complements it with provisions to address the specific challenges posed by child sexual abuse material online.  

The proposed new rules will oblige service providers to take measures to reduce the scope for misuse of their services for the purposes of child sexual abuse.  It will also establish a new EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse which is intended to facilitate the efforts of service providers and national authorities, including by receiving reports of child sexual abuse material from service providers and forwarding these to the relevant Member State for law enforcement action.

Article 83 of the current draft proposal deals with various obligations it is proposed to place on service providers, Coordinating Authorities and the EU Centre in respect of data collection.  My Department continues to examine all aspects of the proposal, including those where there is scope for a disproportionate administrative burden to be placed on national authorities.  At this early stage, however, no objection in principle to has been made to these provisions.

Overall, the Government welcomes this proposal to take action to prevent and combat child sexual abuse on an EU basis, particularly in light of the intrinsic cross-border nature of online services.  It is clear, given the seriousness and scale of this type of criminality, that a more robust approach is merited, including a move from voluntary reporting of child sexual abuse material to an obligatory approach.  

We recognise, however, that there is a balance to be achieved between the fundamental objective of protecting child victims from abuse on the one hand and of privacy and confidential communications on the other.  That is likely to be a major focus of the negotiations, which are of course still at an early stage.  As the proposal stands, the issuance of a detection order to a service provider, which would compel that company to detect and report child sexual abuse material and/or attempts to groom children, requires an assessment of these competing fundamental rights by the relevant Member State’s national authorities, taking into account the capabilities of the technological detection means available, and, ultimately, approval by a court or court-like body.

Ireland will continue to fully engage with fellow Member States, the European Commission and Parliament, and other stakeholders on this proposal, with a view to putting in place a new set of rules that makes a real difference to tackling child sexual abuse, while also respecting the fundamental rights of individual users of the services being regulated.