Ireland can learn from UK plan to ban children from social media – Keogh

The UK Government’s plan to introduce a ban on social media for those under the age of 16 is a significant intervention to protect young people, that Ireland should monitor closely, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Keira Keogh, Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Children said: “Ireland should monitor closely and assess how the policy develops and evaluate its implementation and impact.”

She has raised the issue of proper protections for children online for some time and has highlighted the growing momentum in countries to introduce stronger regulation of online platforms.

“We will be watching closely to see how these measures are implemented and whether they achieve their intended outcomes. We must also examine whether the UK experiences better results than Australia, which has already moved down a similar path.”

She said the UK Government’s decision to focus on AI-powered sexual and romantic chatbots is an area which policy makers are right to be concerned about.

“Children should not be interacting with AI systems that can generate sexualised content, encourage unhealthy emotional dependency or blur the boundaries between human and artificial relationships. Strong safeguards are needed.”

Deputy Keogh stressed that the Irish Government must use its upcoming European Presidency to examine a ban on access and to have platforms prove they are building in safety by design to their digital platforms from the outset.

“Our policy should be evidence-led. If the UK model proves successful, we should be prepared to learn from it.”

Deputy Keogh added that In Fine Gael’s Online Safety Survey, parents expressed strong support for the introduction of age verification measures.

“Age verification is just one part of a much broader, more holistic approach. Alongside it, we need to continue empowering children through digital literacy, giving them the tools to navigate online spaces safely and confidently.”