Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2022-05-31
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Catherine Martin (GP), Dublin Rathdown

I acknowledge the importance of ensuring that the offence-specific category of harmful online content appropriately covers all online content that relates to the offence of assault. I understand that the intention of amendments Nos. 194a and 194b is to ensure that the use of "force" does not unintentionally exclude the non-contact application of such, for example, through online content. I am satisfied that this is not the case, as "force", which is defined in section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, includes, for example, the application of light. As I consider the effect of these amendments to be provided for in the Bill, I will not accept it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-05-31/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-05-31