A majority of TDs want a new social media watchdog. So why won’t Leo make it happen?

ONLINE safety is the child protection issue of our time. That’s not just my opinion: they are the words of Ireland’s biggest children’s charity, the ISPCC. It is a view that is shared widely by children’s advocates, and in my experience, countless parents and children themselves.

The internet can be a force for good a great deal of the time. It can allow us to have access to an incredible array of knowledge, stay in touch easily with far-flung friends and relatives, and has obviously revolutionised communication.

But it also contains enormous dangers and risks. Many people, especially parents, are deeply concerned about what is happening online. It is hard to blame them when we read the stories of predatory behaviour, harassment, harmful material and online bullying. While bullying in any circumstances is bad, the idea that it can follow the child home, that there is no sanctuary or respite, is incredibly distressing.

And children are online more than ever. According to recent research, some 68% of children own a smartphone. More worryingly, 70% were signed up to social media and messaging apps, despite age restrictions of at least 13 on all such services.

I have become increasingly concerned at how children operating in online spaces are potentially subjected to extremely harmful materials – and that there was very little in legislation that was being done to prevent this harm from happening.

Response

And it’s not just children – we need to tackle harmful, abusive and hateful content which can have an impact on us all. As legislators we cannot simply ignore this issue. We have a responsibility to act. This requires a policy response, and an educational response, certainly – but it also requires strong regulation.

That is the reason that in 2017, I published a Bill to establish a Digital Safety Commissioner, with real powers of enforcement. This was developed from a Law Reform Commission Paper published in 2016.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and Minister for Communications Richard Bruton have said that they accept that the days of self-regulation are over. I say it’s time to match those words with action.

A Digital Safety Commissioner would be responsible for the promotion of digital safety for all, supporting and implementing measures to improve digital safety, and advising the Government of the day in relation to policies relating to digital safety.

Crucially, it would be responsible for ensuring digital service providers, such as websites, social media platforms, and apps, and so on, abide by minimum codes of practice, and national digital safety standards.

Central to this would be ‘takedown mechanisms’ so that platforms would remove material which is harmful or is against the codes of practice.

If they refused, the Commissioner could direct them to. Failure to abide by this code of practice and safety standard, would see the compliance clearance for the provider or platform revoked.

These are real powers, which would ensure that people would get quick and effective remedies. They would protect people from abusive behaviour, harmful communications, or material posted without consent.

It will also let users and parents know what websites and platforms are trustworthy, and which are not. This is a model I am convinced can deliver significant change.

Experts in the field of online safety and child protection agree. The ISPCC has said that it ‘believes that regulation of this space is essential, and that such an office would play a major role across education and awareness, monitoring areas of law reform and putting in place appropriate regulations, monitoring and supports to ensure that children are better protected online. It is imperative that a Digital Safety Commissioner is appointed and granted statutory powers.’

Even industry bodies are beginning to accept that the days of no regulation will have to come to an end. Facebook and Google, while not agreeing to every element of the Bill, spoke favourably of the concept in a recent Oireachtas Committee meeting.

The Taoiseach says he agrees that putting in a Digital Safety Commissioner could be effective – and could make a real difference.

But this issue is not a new proposal, and the Government has not exactly treated it as a priority. Former minister Denis Naughten said a commissioner would be appointed in 2018: that won’t now be happening.

Timeline

The Government’s recently published Action Plan for Online Safety disappointed many when it failed to firmly commit to a commissioner. It abdicated responsibility to the Opposition.

The Taoiseach has attempted to fob off the lack of a commissioner on his lack of a Dáil majority. But this ignores the fact that every party in the Oireachtas clearly supports this measure. It also ignores the fact that while I and the Communications Committee chaired by Hildegarde Naughton will push this legislation as far as we can, ultimately it is only a government, that can set up a new statutory office.

It is only a government that can ensure that a Bill can get to committee stage, a key step in becoming law.

The Bill has already passed the initial hurdle in the Dáil, and has been subject to the scrutiny required to go to the next stage.

The ball is firmly in the Government’s court on this issue.

It is within its gift to prioritise this Bill, which would be welcome given that it appears to have the support of the vast majority of TDs and Senators.

The Taoiseach (and the same applies to Richard Bruton, and indeed the Minister for Children Katherine Zappone) needs to do a few things to demonstrate that he is serious about establishing a Digital Safety Commissioner – and that he is serious about online safety.

He needs to guarantee that he will allow the Bill to go to committee stage, and not use the veto he has to stop it getting there.

He needs to state firmly that he wants to see a Digital Safety Commissioner in place. He needs to give a timeline for the establishment of that office. And it needs to be sooner rather than later.

This Government must take this issue with the seriousness it demands, as the key child protection issue of our time.

I believe that there is a demand building up right across the country for action in this area.

I believe that what we need is strong regulation, and that is in the form of a Digital Safety Commissioner such as I have proposed.

It will be a very significant step to improving the online experience of all, and giving people more confidence in their safety from abuse and harmful material.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD is Sinn Féin’s spokesman on Justice and Equality