Banning children under 16 from social media would ‘deprive them of the benefits’ associated with the platforms, the Youth Council of Ireland has argued. 

Last year, Australia became the first country in the world to ban children from social media platforms, including Tiktok, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Threads. 

Announcing the ban, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that “one of the biggest things worrying Mums and Dads is the impact social media is having on their children’s wellbeing”.

The Irish Government is considering the implications of introducing their own ban; however, the National Youth Council of Ireland has raised concerns. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, spokesperson Roisin O’Neill claimed there is “no evidence” Australia’s social media ban is working.  

“In Australia, approximately seven in 10  kids still have access to at least one social media account,” she explained. 

“I'm just wondering, where Ireland would differ in terms of how they would enforce it, because as far as we know so far, it's just not going to work. 

“Then I think the second thing that we would be concerned about is whether this takes away responsibility from these major platforms to kind of protect children anyways. 

“I suppose if it was a thing that they were given reason to believe that under-16s aren't on their platforms, it gives them free reign to not have as much control over what's on their platforms in the first place.”

Our social media ban is giving under-16s a safer childhood and parents more peace of mind. pic.twitter.com/aKahzKoWCe

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) February 20, 2026

Ms O’Neill added that Ireland already has “some good regulation in place” to protect young people, such as the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act and the National Digital Strategy.

However, she conceded that young people are still being exposed to harmful content on the internet. 

“I suppose given that we have these great regulations put in place and you're still seeing harmful content, I think the issue really that we're dealing with is a lack of obligation on these platforms to adhere to these regulations,” she said. 

'Self-expression and education'

Despite this, Ms O’Neill argued that there are still a “lot of benefits” for children having access to social media. 

“I think a ban would deprive children of those benefits,” she said. 

“For example, self-advocacy, connection; if you're an isolated child, you're depriving a child of self-expression and education, this kind of thing.

“So, I think a ban would deprive children of this and there's ways to make sure that children are experiencing those benefits without without putting them at risk of what's online.”

Main image: A child looks at social media a phone. Picture by: Westend61 GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo.