Heed parents’ grave Facebook concerns

ON Monday, the French parliament approved a law banning smartphones in schools, a clear example of the decisive action a government can take if it is serious about recognising and tackling an issue of grave societal concern. In his election manifesto, President Emmanuel Macron promised it – and he delivered.

Contrast that to the inaction of the Government here, which has washed its hands of the problem and instead left the decision to school principals, with a shrug of the shoulders and a slightly childish refusal to accept that it is an issue at all.

This betrays a failure to see the issue from the point of view of concerned parents, who simply cannot be left alone to fight the battle.

Today, Facebook will make a presentation to an Oireachtas committee, and it is full of platitudes about the social media giant’s improved efforts to police its content. There is no commitment to removing videos of children being abused by parents, except in very specific and unlikely circumstances, nor will clips of schoolchildren beating each other up, or a man eating baby rats for his own amusement, necessarily be deleted.

Effectively, Facebook will react only if a problem is stuck under its nose, rather than proactively checking and removing offensive posts. As for age verification requirements, any child, no matter what age, still will be able to join, simply by claiming to be 13, with no proof required, leaving them open to the threat of online grooming by sexual predators.

Facebook will do this for as long as it can get away with it, unless someone forces it to do otherwise. As French politicians have shown, though, where there is a will, there is a way, which once again raises the question: why is our government seemingly more intent on protecting Mark Zuckerberg’s billions than it is on listening to parents, and making sure our children have no access to such content during school hours, and are safe online when they actually are allowed use phones?