‘Anonymous social media accounts cannot be justified any longer’ - Cassells

Harmful online content aimed at young children and social media abuse is going to be front and centre in Leinster House this week with the appearance of Facebook, TikTok and Twitter before the Media Committee tomorrow (Wednesday May 19th).

Senator Shane Cassells, who is a member of the Media Committee, is pushing for a number of actions to be taken by Social Media to address the potential harms caused by its misuse. It follows on from the appearance of the Children’s Ombudsman and ISPCC before the Media Committee last week where the ongoing pre-legislative scrutiny of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill is taking place.

According to Senator Cassells the testimony from the various children’s representatives last week was both harrowing and a further reminder of why action is so urgently needed in the regulation of the online media world.

The testimony included the story of a 13-year-old girl, Kate, who was subjected to vile online abuse and when she contacted the ISPCC she told the call facilitator how she wanted to “slit her wrists” as she felt that was the only way to stop the cyberbullying.

At a press conference at Leinster House Senator Cassells urged the tech giants to come to the Committee hearing with positive proposals for dealing with online abuse and harmful content aimed at young people and stated that self-regulation was no longer going to be acceptable.

“We do not believe that permitting anonymous social media accounts can be justified any longer,” remarked Senator Cassells.

“For most online activity, there is a requirement for individuals to identify themselves in some way.

“Too often action on an abusive, harmful, discriminatory or potentially defamatory post on a social media site takes too long to be addressed by the social media companies.

“We expect clear outlines from the social media companies on how they will address urgent issues and ensure rapid take down of harmful material.”

Other aspects that the committee are looking at include the area of financial online harm through online gambling and it is something which Senator Cassells states will be tackled by both this bill and the introduction of a gambling regulator later this year.