A social media ban for children under 16 must be given serious consideration, according to Tánaiste Simon Harris.
He suggested that Ireland might follow Australia, which has adopted some of the strictest laws on social media in the world.
CEO of Cyber Safe Kids Alex Cooney told Newstalk Breakfast a ban is “quite a blunt instrument”.
“If we look at what the Australians are proposing, they’re not actually going to address all the environments online that children are going to,” she said.
“So, it doesn’t include really popular places like WhatsApp, YouTube – which they see as an educational tool, although in fact it’s very like TikTok, especially the shorts – and it’s not going to include any gaming environments.
“Actually, Roblox at the moment is the most popular online environment for children aged eight-to-12.”
Close up of child playing video games, PlayStation at home. Image: Marija Ignjatovic / Alamy Stock PhotoMs Cooney said that while the Tánaiste talked about the era of self-regulation being over, she doesn’t see this as being the case.
“We still leave a lot of power in the hands of these tech companies and they are making these enormous profits,” she said.
“So, we need those profits to be invested in real, genuine measures for safety by designing online environments for children.”
According to Ms Cooney, rather than an all-out ban, she would prefer that companies are compelled to create safer online environments for both children and adults.
Main image: Simon Harris (L), children on phone (R).
