New Law to Protect Children Online – Cllr. Sinéad Maguire

A new law is set to protect our children online, Fine Gael Candidate Cllr Sinéad Maguire has said.
Fine Gael Candidate for Sligo, Leitrim, North Roscommon and South Donegal, Cllr Sinéad Maguire said
“My colleague the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton T.D.,
has today (Monday the 4 th of March) announced that he will introduce a new Online Safety Act to
improve online safety and ensure that children can be protected online.

“For the first time we will have a law setting a clear expectation for service providers to take reasonable
steps to ensure the safety of the users of their service. The system will be overseen by an Online
Safety Commissioner.

“This is really good news for parents in County Sligo seeking to protect their children while they benefit
from all that digital technology has to offer.

“The Online Safety Act will define categories of harmful online content. Minister Bruton has indicated
that this could include: serious cyber bullying, including content which is seriously threatening, seriously
intimidating, seriously harassing or seriously humiliating; material which promotes self-harm or suicide;
and material designed to encourage prolonged nutritional deprivation that would have the effect of
exposing a person to risk of death or endangering health.

“The new law will also place requirements on operators to Operate an Online Safety Code, which would
set out the steps they are taking to keep their users safe online. They will need to include in their code
a number of issues at a minimum (e.g. a prohibition of cyber bullying material; provide a complaints
procedure where people can request material be taken down, with timelines). They will also need to
build safety into the design of online platforms through the application of technology and human
intervention
“While there are many very good initatives going on across the government to promote online safety,
particularily by WebWise, the Online Safety Commissioner can be a single online access point through
which all available Online Safety resources can be accessed by parents, teachers and children. This
could build on the government’s Be Safe Online portal.

“Minister Bruton has put forward a number of options for how a new Online Safety Commissioner can
do this important work.There are two options including,

– A Media Commission: establish a new Media Commission by restructuring the Broadcasting
Authority of Ireland, along the lines of the multi-Commissioner Competition and Consumer
Protection Commission. Establish the Online Safety Commissioner as a powerful office within
that structure.

– Two Regulators: Two regulatory bodies, one of which would involve restructuring the BAI and
assigning it responsibility for content which is subject to editorial control (traditional television

and radio broadcasting and on-demand audiovisual media services). The second online safety
regulator would be a new body responsible for online content that is not subject to editorial
controls (such as social media and video sharing platforms etc) “The second role of the Online Safety Commissioner would be to apply European Law to video sharing.

This will require significant changes to the way in which Ireland regulates audio visual content, both
offline and online, including ensuring that Video Sharing Platforms have sufficient measures (e.g.
parental controls and age-verification) in place, and ensuring that they have a complaints mechanism in
place where a user can make a complaint regarding content which is hosted on the service.

“It is proposed that the Online Safety Commissioner could conduct audits of the measures which the
services have in place or a more direct review of a company’s content moderation teams as they are
operating.

“Under EU Law, the Online Safety Commissioner would be required to regulate all video sharing
platforms that are based in Ireland.

“A short six week public consultation is set to commence on the options and I encourage everyone in
County Sligo to have their say.People can make a submission on the Department of Communications
website https://bit.ly/2Ha1rcx.”

Speaking at the launch Minister Bruton said: “Digital technology is transforming the world in which we
work and live and learn. This provides huge opportunities for us all. It has been central to our economic
and social development as a country for three decades. However, the digital world also presents new
risks which did not exist previously.
“As Minister for Education and Skills, I recognised the need to take action in this area, and issued a
direction to schools that they should consult with parents, teachers and students on the use, if any, of
smart phones in schools. “The situation at present where online and social media companies are not
subject to any oversight or regulation by the state for the content which is shared on their platforms is
no longer sustainable. I believe that the era of self regulation in this area is over and a new Online
Safety Act is necessary.

“Many parents find it difficult to keep up with the latest technology, or the latest app. That is
understandable given how quickly online games and technology can evolve. To me it emphasises why
the establishment of an Online Safety Commissioner is so important.

“While it would be impossible to remove every danger from the internet or from the adaptation of new
technology, what we need to do is to ensure that parents and children are better equipped, that the
state can provide regulation and enforcement, and that online platforms take responsibility.”

ENDS