Brian Stanley urges urgent regulation of social media algorithms
Brian Stanley addressed the Oireachtas on the dangers of online algorithms and urged immediate regulation and age limits to protect young people. He backed the People Before Profit bill, criticised government inaction, and called for tech companies to be held liable with stronger safeguards including effective age verification.
Shocking testimony that prompted the speech
He cited a Prime Time testimony from a young woman called Caitlin about her experience in UCD, noting the case stopped him in his tracks and underlined the urgency to act to protect young people and vulnerable users.
Algorithms driven by profit
He warned that companies use algorithms to make money and exploit users, and that criminals use similar techniques. Stanley argued algorithms are geared to hook people, steer them into rabbit holes, increase exposure to harmful content and should be controllable by users.
Age limits and verification measures
He supported putting an age limit on social media and said the precise threshold needs exploring - "maybe not 16 but perhaps 14" - and pointed to other countries, including Australia, which have taken steps on age verification and getting young people offline from social media.
Legal measures and precedent
He said tech companies should be held liable if AI tools are used without safeguards and called for strong legislation to stop exploitation. He referenced Coco's Law as an example of legislation already in place and urged that extortion and blackmail related to intimate images be treated as serious criminal offences.
Political appeal and government responsibility
He thanked People Before Profit for bringing the bill, expressed disappointment the government is not supporting it, and urged the minister and government to legislate rather than leave action to tech giants. He noted previous ministerial comments about acting during the EU presidency but insisted the Oireachtas and government must take responsibility now.
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First, let me just thank People Before Profit for taking the initiative and bringing this important bill forward. Is it necessary? Of course it's necessary. I saw the repeat of Prime Time last night and a young woman called Caitlin and her experience in UCD. She's roughly the same age as my granddaughter, who's also attending UCD, and it stopped me in my tracks the fact that people could have such attitudes and where does that come from and how did this develop and the role of online in that. We just hope that Caitlin can make recovery. Her testimony was absolutely shocking and it shows the urgency we need to deal with this. Minister, companies are using these algorithms to make money and they're exploiting users of the internet. It's about profit. Criminals are doing likewise. Children and young teenagers are exposed to all sorts of harmful content on the internet. Algorithms can be used to increase exposure and steer people down into rabbit holes that brings you to situations like we saw last night. They're geared towards hooking people and keeping them clicking. There's potential for massive exploitation and the users need to have the right to turn off those. Tech companies should be held liable if their AI tools are used without safeguards. But government needs to regulate. Government has failed so far to do that. Some countries, including Australia, have moved in terms of getting young people offline off social media and have put restrictions in place to have effective age verification and that's essential. We should look at that as well along with what's been proposed in this bill. It's putting an age limit on social media. Maybe not 16 but perhaps 14. That's an issue that needs to be explored. The exploitation of internet users and particularly of children and vulnerable people need to stop. And the Oireachtas and government need to have legislation in place. You know, we can't leave it to the tech giants. They're making big money out of it. They're not going to do it. It's clear what their intentions are. But we need, we have to protect people and protect children. And just regarding online safety. You know, we can do things. Look what we've done with Coco's Law. We have that in place. And that's welcome where people who share intimate images of others are threatened to share images that they may or may not have. And it's not always men that do it. Women can do it as well. But mainly men are doing it. I have to say that. And it's shocking the level of sexism that's out there. So we need strong legislation out there. And when people do that and add on extortion or blackmail to it as well, they need to be treated with the full rigours of the law. People who do that to try and extort money on top of trying to expose images that there may or may have, they need to be treated as serious criminals. So look at what support this bill on the algorithms. I want to thank people for a profit. I'm disappointed that the government are not supporting it. And, you know, Minister, we have to support this. You talked about doing it when we have the EU presidency and I looked at your speech. That's fine. But we need to do it. You know, we have a responsibility as a government here. Government and the Houses have directed us to do it.
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