A social media ban for under-16s in the UK was announced by prime minister Keir Starmer on Monday.
It proposes that teenagers will be blocked from all the main social media platforms, while gaming apps and other online platforms will face restrictions such as having the option to chat to strangers removed from next spring.
There will also be restrictions for older teenagers up to the age of 18, preventing them from scrolling on devices late at night.
In Ireland, the Government has previously discussed the introduction of similar restrictions on social media use for those aged under 16, but no measures have yet been put in place.
What does the UK ban consist of?
Children will see their access to platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and X restricted. They will also be restricted from using certain gaming platforms and messaging apps. However, the ban will not cover messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Signal.
Why is this being brought in?
The UK government ran a national consultation from March to last month, which showed nine in 10 parents wanted a social media ban for under‑16s. Some two-thirds of young people agreed that under-16s should not be allowed to use at least some social media platforms.
The aim is to protect children and teenagers from harmful addictive content, such as through lengthy scrolling, as well as from making contact with strangers through messaging apps.
Could a similar ban be introduced in Ireland?
Not yet, it seems. Indications from senior Ministers are that Ireland would sooner follow a European Union-wide approach on any social media ban rather than make its own rules.
The Department of Communications confirmed on Monday that the “Government’s preference is for an EU wide approach as digital services are delivered across borders”. It said such an approach would be “more effective as it is more straightforward for platforms to implement and for regulators to supervise and enforce”.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has convened a special panel on online child safety, which is looking at the potential for social media restrictions for minors.
That panel is due to report this summer, and the department said Ireland would “give priority to the negotiations on those proposals” if they emerge while the State holds the presidency Council of the European Union, which begins next month.
What harm can social media or online forums cause children?
Advocates say children are at risk of being groomed and manipulated online by strangers through messaging apps. They also say children are being exposed to violent, inappropriate and sexualised content.
There has also been a rise in AI generated child sexual abuse material and young people are increasingly being exposed to false, misleading and extreme narratives. Some of this content is being viewed on YouTube and Roblox, an online game platform, and not just through traditional social media apps.
What are children in Ireland currently being exposed to?
“Pretty much anything you didn’t want a child to see or encounter, it’s possible to do so online,” says Alex Cooney, chief executive of CyberSafeKids.
The organisation has heard of children accessing “anything from horror and terror images to beheadings, torture, including animal torture, and sexual content” online, she says.
“I remember one mother talking to me about her son who was about nine years old searching for a picture of an eyeball, because he wanted to draw one,” Cooney says. “There were no restrictions on the search engine and he was shown an eye being gouged out of the eye socket.”
What regulations are in place to protect children in Ireland?
There are two relevant pieces of legislation. Firstly, the Online Safety Media Regulation Act, which is targeted at video sharing platforms based in Ireland such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. It aims to protect children and the public from harmful and illegal content.
Secondly, there is the EU-wide Digital Services Act, which targets Intermediary Service Providers (ISPs) such as Apple, Google and Meta, and is designed to protect users from illegal content online. However, online safety advocates in Ireland have been critical of the efficacy of these laws, and the way they are implemented.
What regulations are advocates in Ireland looking for?
They do not believe a blanket ban on social media sites is effective, as creating a shortlist of banned platforms will not prevent unregulated alternatives cropping up.
Instead, they believe an independent risk assessment and precertification process should be required by any social media platform, game, app or AI system seeking to enter the European market.
In June, more than 140 organisations working in the area children’s rights in Europe, including the Children’s Rights Alliance Ireland and CyberSafeKids, signed a letter to von der Leyen saying a social media ban would not be enough.
Instead they proposed this precertification requirement for companies who wish to offer access to children, as well as enforcement of existing GDPR provisions designed to protect children from data-driven commercial exploitation.