merrion street

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to be here today at the invitation of Mr. Paul Durrant of the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland and General Manager of its Hotline, to launch the Annual Report of the

The hotline.ie provides a sterling service. It has become a critical and really useful instrument in our defence against child pornography, although in saying that, I am aware that that the hotline deals with illegal content of other kinds.

One of the hotline’s great strengths is that it allows members of the public to report suspected illegal content on the internet so that it can be examined and dealt with appropriately. I think that is a very important feature, it gives every citizen an opportunity to participate in the fight against illegal content on the internet.

Thanks to that public support and to the support of the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland and also to funding from the EU under the Safer Internet Programme, Hotline.ie continues its very difficult but excellent work. The Office for Internet Safety in my Department is, of course, the national coordinator in Ireland for that EU Programme. I am glad to report that there is a very good working relationship between the hotline and that Office.

The importance of this service grows every year as the internet and electronic communications play an ever increasing part in all our lives. We now wonder how we managed before it! Indeed, to the younger people in our society, a world without the internet, social media and file sharing is unthinkable.

On occasions like this, we are, naturally, concerned with abuse of the internet. But, there can be no doubt about its overall impact, it is a force for good, for increased educational, social and economic advancement and it is very powerful. Digital literacy is now seen as an essential tool in virtually all aspects of life. But I would add a cautionary note: good judgement is also called for. For example, parents and teachers often feel that their children are much more at ease with technology than they are themselves but while that may be true, they lack the maturity and experience of their parents and teachers. Our children need guidance and assistance as they navigate the online world safely. Of course, everyone has to accept responsibility for their own safety and this applies to the internet as in any other facet of life. Each of us must take sensible precautions in our online lives just as we do in dealing with others in the non-virtual or what we used to call the ‘real world’!

As always, the report provides some very interesting statistics. I see that during 2012 Hotline.ie processed 2,950 reports. This represents a 20% increase on the number of reports processed in 2011 and in fact this is the largest number of reports since the establishment of Hotline.ie in 1999.

As the Hotline.ie Report shows, the vast majority of the material reported to Hotline.ie was found either to be not illegal or was not traceable. We must not be discouraged in any way by that fact. Instead, I think the increase in the overall level of reporting to the Hotline is encouraging. I see it as an indication of a growth in vigilance and in a willingness to report.

The total of 116 unique illegal reports in 2012 was up from 92 unique illegal reports in 2011. Of the 116 unique reports that were found to be illegal during 2012, ninety-six of them were of child sexual abuse content. Of the remainder, 15 reports concerned financial scams and 5 reports were drugs related.

The Hotline.ie report shows that all of the 96 child sexual abuse content reports, bar one, were traced. A total of 91 reports were forwarded to authorities abroad, with 78 sent to INHOPE countries and 13 forwarded through the Gardaí to non-INHOPE countries.

Four cases were found to be hosted on cloud services in Ireland. Further analysis revealed that three of the reports were in fact referring to the same material. While understanding that material hosted in the cloud may be more difficult to remove, the hosting of any such content apparently in Ireland is regrettable. The number is at a very low level in international comparisons but it warns us against complacency. Using cloud technology in this way also reminds us that new fronts are opening as we continue to fight the scourge of internet abuse.

The report also tells us that in Europe, 90% of all illegal content reported through INHOPE is removed from the internet within 72 hours. Worldwide, 56% of all illegal content is removed within 72 hours. There is scope for improvement here and I would hope to see both an increase in the percentages and a reduction in the time periods over the coming years.

Illegal content is an international problem and it requires international cooperation to tackle it effectively. INHOPE is the international umbrella body for the hotlines. Hotline.ie is, of course, an active member of INHOPE. There are now 43 INHOPE hotlines in 37 countries around the world. They have developed effective procedures to deal with illegal content and they cooperate closely and to very high standards in the tracing and removal of such content and in particular child sexual abuse content. I am sure that the work of Hotline.ie and its strong links to other hotlines internationally through INHOPE acts as a strong deterrent to the hosting of illegal content in Ireland.

While on the topic of international cooperation, I am pleased to tell you that Ireland is now one of forty-eight countries which have signed up to the ‘Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online’. The Global Alliance is a joint EU US initiative. It sets out shared policy targets and operational goals while giving participants the freedom to choose how to achieve them. Among the shared policy targets of the Global Alliance is reducing the availability of child pornography online. This is precisely the work that is being carried out by Hotline.ie in Ireland.

I have already noted how the hotline allows public participation in the fight against illegal content. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage members of the public to continue to use this free and confidential service to report any suspect content which they may come across while online – be it on the internet, on peer to peer services or while using other applications.

Reports can be made anonymously to Hotline.ie. People who do wish to identify themselves to the hotline can obtain feedback on the status of their report but it must be reiterated that no information on those who report is ever divulged to any other party.

I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the continuing support of the ISPAI for the hotline service; it is very laudable and public spirited and it is greatly appreciated.

I would like especially to congratulate Mr. Paul Durrant and his team for their ongoing work and in particular for this Annual Report and for the exciting new format in which the synopsis results for 2012 are presented. The infographic conveys a lot of information in an attractive, user friendly and efficient format but nevertheless reflects the contents of the full version of the Annual Report which, most appropriately, is being made available in electronic format. I wish Mr. Durrant and Hotline.ie continued success in this very important work.

Thank you.