The Joint Committee on Children and Equality will meet tomorrow, Thursday, 7 May, with representatives from social media companies to resume discussions on the Safety and Well-being of Children Online.

The meeting at 9:30am in Committee Room 2 of Leinster House will hear from representatives from Meta, TikTok, Snap Inc, Google and Microsoft Ireland

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Keira Keogh said: "When we began examining the Safety and Well-being of Children Online, the Committee was clear that the protection of children from harmful content and exploitation online is our priority. Children should not have access to inappropriate or extreme content nor be exposed to cyberbullying, online sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual extortion, manipulation and coercion.

"The Committee also outlined its concern about addictive design and algorithms that expose children to inappropriate material, as well as artificial intelligence and deepfake content specifically aimed at them. Across our meetings with regulators, gardai, child protection advocates, the Ombudsman for Children and groups of children and young people, we have heard evidence of the dangers children face online and what needs to be done to protect them from such exposure.

"It is in that context that we welcome this engagement with the representatives from the social media companies, whose platforms are used by children. The Committee looks forward to hearing from them what their companies are doing to protect children and young people from inappropriate and harmful content.

"The meeting is our last engagement on this topic. The Committee will now examine the evidence we have heard from all our stakeholders and then compile a report containing our conclusions and recommendations. This report will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and published in due course."

The Joint Committee on Children and Equality has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

The meeting in Committee Room 2 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.