I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill and Deputies Carthy and Devine for the work they have put into it. I also welcome to the Gallery those people who are visiting to listen to this debate. I thank the Government for not opposing this Bill. I welcome that but it is, of course, the very least we can ask. This is a Bill that makes sense. We know Coco's Law has worked over the last number of years. This simple amendment will allow it to keep pace and add some other fixes around access to justice, which are also very important. Essentially, it builds on good law by keeping it up to pace. The Social Democrats will also be introducing legislation that looks at the copyright angle of this area and will allow people to copyright their own personal identity. At the moment, that copyright only extends to commercial activities like singing. What we want to put forward is a copyright law that will protect people's likeness, features, voices and bodies. It is legislation that is being pursued in Denmark and we believe it is another way we can respond to the crisis in which we now find ourselves. Let us recap on that crisis and what has happened with Grok over the last number of months. An unsafe product, a nudification app, was unleashed on the market. That is the marketing terminology but the legal terminology is image-based sexual abuse, IBSA, and child sexual abuse material, CSAM. That is what this product has done. What we have seen in response from governments and regulators across the globe, including our own, is absolutely shocking. We have seen outcry and hand-wringing. I read a headline today that Coimisiún na Meán is horrified. Investigations are under way by An Garda Síochána. The European Commission is investigating the risk element. What is not happening is any meaningful results for those people who have been harmed by this product. We have had geoblocking from Grok itself, which is, first of all, too little and far too late, but is also something that anybody with VPN can get around in a minute so it is not actually doing anything. The nudification app still works. People can still abuse through image-based sexual abuse and child sexual abuse material. Other jurisdictions have gone further. We have seen the X offices in Paris raided by the French Government, which I welcome. As Deputy Cairns said in the House a couple of weeks ago, if we had a warehouse on Pearse Street alongside the X offices here which was producing CSAM and IBSA at the same level as it is being produced online, it would have been shut down and prosecutions would have been brought forward. However, because it is on the Internet, we do not see that same response. We do not see anything that actually deals with the crimes that are being committed and with the regulatory transgressions being committed by these companies. What is the harm that people are experiencing? It is devastating to the people who are experiencing this child sexual abuse material and image-based sexual abuse. It is a violation of their rights, dignity, privacy and autonomy. It has an immediate effect on people but it is not instantaneous because it will stay with them, follow them around, affect their mental health and their life in ways we cannot even imagine unless we are victims of this crime. I also wish to speak to something that is under-reported, namely, the societal impact of this. Not only is this a product of the misogynistic society we are in but it is something which also fuels it. We are seeing, for example, reports that younger female teachers in schools across Ireland are increasingly experiencing misogyny from their young students. This is exactly the kind of tool and behaviour which fuels younger members of our society into thinking that it is okay to objectify and demean women, and to dehumanise them in this way. It is exactly this behaviour that fuels the epidemic of sexual and gender-based violence which we know is such a problem in this world. Yet, what do we do? We see our governments wringing their hands and, again, talking about how bad it is. Not even that; we had one Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, blame the user. He does not even go as far as blaming the tech platforms. Deepfakes are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to online harms. This is the other thing I want to speak to. This is one area which is hugely problematic, has rightly caused huge consternation in society and has provoked reactions from across this House, the media and society. This legislation is to be commended as it seeks to address a specific piece of it but even if we fix this, it will not deal with the core issue, which is big tech. We need to deal with online platforms, e-commerce, or whatever we want to call them, and the way in which the online harms that are proliferating on these companies' websites are reaching into the lives of every single individual in society and that governments and regulators across the globe have no control and no ability to hold them to account. We get messages that either the regulatory and legal framework does not exist for them to do that, that when the framework does exist it is too hard to enforce, or that when they want to enforce it, it is not working and the companies do not pay heed to fines or whatever else. None of this is good enough. I do not care if it is about jobs, tax, or whatever it is; the Government needs to step up because these companies are running rings around it. Every day people are paying the price. Everybody is paying the price. The worst part of all this is that these are technologies, particularly AI, which could bring so much amazing benefit to society. Unfortunately, the more we see products like this unleashed on society, and we will see more and more of them, that trust will be eroded and AI as a tool will be completely undermined. We will start to see the inequality divide online increase further, as people pay to access tools that they can trust and will work for them, while everybody else just gets to dive around in the cesspit that is the Internet. Today is Safer Internet Day, the theme of which is "AI Aware: Safe, Smart, and in Control". There was an event in the Department of justice to mark the day, at which members of a youth panel spoke to the issue. While that sort of activity is to be welcomed, I do not know how the Government can stand over celebrating Safer Internet Day when it cannot even deal with a safe Internet. It cannot hold big tech to account and actually provide a safe Internet. I am crystal-clear on exactly what this Government needs to do to deal with big tech. Our Government needs to grow a pair. It needs to regulate, enforce, prosecute and make the Internet safer. I welcome this Bill and commend it but we need so much more from the Government.

Sentiment score: -0.01