Tánaiste: Social media companies are choosing not to clamp down on abuse
Simon Harris said it was his belief that social media companies could do more to stop abuse, but did not.
The Tánaiste has accused social media companies of being able to clamp down on abusive behaviour and threats, but choosing not to.
Simon Harris has been subject to a number of threats over the last few months, culminating two weeks ago in multiple bomb threats against his home and a threat to kidnap his children.
Speaking in New York on Sunday, Mr Harris said it was his belief that social media companies could do more to stop abuse, but did not.
Asked if he supported calls for new legislation, Mr Harris said that things like threats of violence and kidnapping were illegal and did not necessarily need new laws.
He said Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy, who last week opened the Dáil's new session with a call for an end to online abuse, "makes some interesting and valid points", particularly about the conduct of social media companies.
"We have age verification in relation to social media. But do we really? I mean, we live in a country with a digital agent consent of 16. Does anybody really believe that people much younger than 16 aren't on social media?
"Is it acceptable that you can set up an Instagram account Simon12345, and start sending abusive material to people, and then have to go to the district court, and then have to have an order to try and find out who's behind that anonymous account, and then the company might have up to seven days to give the gardaí the information?
"So I think there's an interesting conversation to be had around online safety."
Mr Harris said both he and Taoiseach Micheál Martin are due to meet with media regulator Coimisiún na Meán soon to discuss the issue.
"I have an open mind on this, but I do think there's existing laws that need to be enforced. And I think the Ceann Comhairle has started or reignited an interesting conversation.
"I've used the term wild west [about social media]. Social media is good, I use it and it's not going to go away. Take all of that as read. But we can't have one set of laws that happen here and it's a completely different universe online. It just can't work like that.
"The annoying thing here, though, annoying is too weak a word; if anybody was to have the solutions to these challenges, it's tech companies, and they're just choosing not to do it. They're just making a conscious decision. There's absolutely no reason that tech companies, who are experts in AI and the likes, wouldn't be using technological solutions to keep in the first instance, our kids safe online, and secondly, to ensure that the general space online is a safer space.
"So isn't it kind of appalling that we're in this space, having another conversation about what law might we need to pass?"
