It's 'time to act' and ban internet companies from providing pornography to children, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has said.
He has suggested it's 'quite amazing' that no such law exists already, and therefore it's logical that the State prevents it from happening.
Under new laws proposed by the party, it would be illegal for Internet companies to provide pornography online to children.
The party's Protection of Children Bill is to go before the Dáil today, and proposes that any provider found to be in breach of the rules could face fines from the communications regulator ComReg.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Deputy Toibín said children as young as eight or nine are consuming pornography.
He explained: "[It's] a level of pornography that would have been illegal to even adults a generation ago.
"We know this can radically alter their perception of relationships, it can lead to mental health problems, and we know also it can lead to sexual violence and aggression.
"What our bill simply looks to do is try to ban the provision of the material to children. The Government have sat on their hands on this... everyone has shrugged their shoulders. We believe it's time to act on this."
Legislation
Deputy Tóibín said there is precedent for internet service providers (ISPs) to face court challenges over the material their customers access.
He explained: "[They] have been brought to court before in this country for the provision of copyrighted material: films that were being streamed into homes. Of course, they told them to either stop this happening or stop the sites that are providing it."
Under the proposed laws, notices would be issued by ComReg to ISPs if there are websites providing poronographic material to children, and failure to comply could lead to fines.
Deputy Tóibín said: "My attitude is if an off-licence was selling a bottle of vodka to a ten-year-old child, we would say to the off-licence to comply with the law.
"What our bill seeks to do is to allow the Government to work with all of the stakeholders on this, to develop regulations in how websites can ascertain the age of people who are consuming their material.
"If websites can't prove the age of the people consuming the material, then the internet service provider is told to block the website after the period of time."
A number of studies in recent years have highlighted the impact of consuming pornography on children - including one 2018 report which shows one-in-five young people think it's a 'useful' source of information about health sexual relationships.
