Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
540. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the reason the general scheme of the online safety and media regulation Bill does not include a statutory mechanism for persons to make complaints in respect of harmful online content and age inappropriate online content. [31724/21]
View answer541. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the way in which a person who is the victim of harmful online content and age inappropriate online content can avail of a remedy; and if the only remedy available to that person to vindicate their statutory right is to institute proceedings before the courts. [31725/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 540 and 541 together.
The Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill will, among other things, establish a regulatory framework for online safety to be overseen by an Online Safety Commissioner as part of a wider Media Commission. A foundational part of this framework will be the systems focused regulation of Video Sharing Platform Services required by the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
The goal of the regulatory framework for online safety will be to tackle the availability of defined categories of harmful online content through systemic oversight over how regulated online services deliver and moderate the user-generated content on their platforms. This is a risk based approach that is intended to drive towards the best possible outcomes for all users of online services.
While there is an appreciation of the desire for an individual complaints mechanism, there are serious doubts about the effectiveness of a statutory mechanism of this kind in the online safety space. There are a number of reasons for this, including that:
- requirements for fair procedures would not facilitate a swift resolution of individual issues, as it would be necessary to engage with the uploader of content as well as the complainant;
- the volume of online content, particularly as Ireland will be regulating Video Sharing Platform Services for the whole of the EU population of 450 million people, would overwhelm even the best resourced regulator and divert resources away from regulatory oversight;
- referring complaints relating to individual items of content that are potentially criminal in nature to a civil regulator instead of An Garda Síochána would not be appropriate; and
- it would incentivise regulated online services to refer matters to the regulator rather than to take responsibility for resolving the matter themselves.
In light of this, the Bill provides the Commission with the power to oblige designated online services to have easy to use and effective complaints and appeals mechanisms in place and also the power to audit those mechanisms. This is part of the risk-based framework that will enable the Commission to seek the greatest degree of protection for all users through systemic oversight.
Individuals will always be able to bring issues to the attention of the Commission and this will feed into the Commission's risk assessment and determination of audits and investigations. The Commission will also have the power to order the removal of individual items of content in certain discrete instances. However, this will not amount to a formal individual complaints mechanism. The Commission will also have a duty to promote independent mediation mechanisms and other methods of resolving disputes.
The Commission will also be empowered to set up a systemic complaints scheme to receive complaints from nominated bodies such as expert NGOs about trends in the prevalence of harmful online content and the effectiveness of measures taken by regulated online services to comply with their obligations. This will help to inform the Commission about what the prominent and emerging risks are at any point in time and inform the Commission's approach to making online safety codes, conducting audits of complaints handling and investigating suspected failures of compliance.
