Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2056. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 177 of 22 February 2018, the progress made in relation to the appointment of a digital safety commissioner; when he expects such an appointment to be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33586/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra2061. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the commitment to appoint a digital ombudsman; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33719/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra2114. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his Department has made progress on the creation of the office of the digital safety commissioner as recommended by the Law Reform Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35163/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra2115. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has held meetings with An Taoiseach, the Ministers for Justice and Equality and Children and Youth Affairs in relation to the establishment of the office of the digital safety commissioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35164/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra2116. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the establishment of the office of the digital safety commissioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35165/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 2056, 2061 and 2114 to 2116, inclusive, together.
As the Deputies are aware, in February the Government did not oppose the passage at second stage of a Private Members Bill by Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire which sought to establish an Office of a Digital Safety Commissioner. This Bill, the Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017, was then referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment by the Oireachtas.
However, I should point out that the role envisaged for a Digital Safety Commissioner would include harmful, but not illegal content. Content which is illegal such as Hate Speech and Child Abuse Material is and will remain a matter for An Garda Síochána in Ireland working closely as they do with their counterparts in other jurisdictions.
The Action Plan for Online Safety was launched by the Taoiseach on 11 July, and contains 25 actions to be implemented by the six sponsor Departments over the next 12-18 months. These actions cover a range of activities including education and awareness raising; communicating with the public; putting in place robust oversight and consultative structures; and legislative measures.
Action 18 commits the Government to working with the Joint Oireachtas Committee in relation to Deputy Ó Laoghaire's Bill. The Bill raises a number of jurisdictional and legal issues and the Government will work with the Committee as it conducts its detailed scrutiny to seek to resolve these issues.
Action 20 provides for the establishment of a National Advisory Council for Online Safety, chaired by Minister of State Seán Kyne. The Council will comprise membership from the key stakeholder groups, including the large online platforms and NGOs, and its terms of reference will include providing advice to Government on online safety policy issues and to identify emerging issues where Government intervention may be warranted.
Action 17 provides for the implementation of the revision to the Audio Visual Media Services Directive, which has been negotiated for the past two years in Brussels and the text of which will be finalised in the Autumn, will require Member States to put in place a co-regulatory system for Video Sharing Platform Services (VSPS). This is the first time that VSPS have been included within the scope of the Directive.
While much work remains to be done on the definition of a VSPS, including the issuing by the Commission of detailed guidance in how the definition should be interpreted by Member States, what is clear is that Ireland will be required to put in place a co-regulatory system for VSPS that are established here. This means that services such as YouTube and aspects of Facebook's service will be subject to content regulation measures for the first time.
Ireland will have 21 months to implement the terms of the Directive once the text has been finalised, and my Department has commenced preparatory work in this regard. A public consultation will be held before the end of the year which will guide the approach to be taken to this and other aspects of the revision of the Directive.
The importance of making improvements in this area has been highlighted by the recent Channel 4 programme "Dispatches", which revealed serious lapses in the operation of Facebook's internal processes. I sought an urgent meeting with senior management of the company. This meeting was held in New York on Thursday 19 July and at it I told Facebook's management that I was appalled and disgusted by what the programme had revealed. I told them that a serious step change was needed in their practices and a further meeting between the company's management and my officials took place on Monday 23 July.
At the core of this debate is how the company operates the self-regulatory system of Community Standards which guides what content the company does and does not consider acceptable. If the company finds that content is in breach of these standards, then that content will be removed. The Channel 4 programme revealed several instances where content was clearly in breach of those standards, had been notified to the company by users, and yet was allowed to remain on the platform. The company has apologised for these lapses and has stated that it has put measures in place to ensure that similar lapses do not reoccur.
