A great day for our children
Every parent owes a debt of gratitude to the voices who were willing to stand up to tech giants in order to halt the sick online free-for-all that puts our youngsters at risk
TODAY is a landmark day for child safety. The announcement by Richard Bruton that he is to bring forward legislation to create a new Online Safety Commissioner will be welcomed by anyone who has an interest in protecting children: teachers, doctors, gardaí… and above all parents.
It is, of course, also a powerful vindication of this newspaper’s campaign – now entering its third year – to protect children online. It is not in any way the end of our campaign but it marks a major milestone in that finally our Government – which for so long had washed its hands of the issue – recognises that in this area of life more than any other we need laws to keep young people safe.
Credit must be given to the Communications Minister for accepting this responsibility. We should not forget that while the idea of a social media watchdog has been mooted for some time, in late 2017 it was effectively axed by Leo Varadkar. The Taoiseach stated then that he had decided ‘not to go for that’ because he was very nervous about the Government ‘trying to regulate the internet’.
And when the Government’s Action Plan for Online Safety was unveiled last year, it was most notable for the point that the document put a series of obstacles in the way of appointing of a social media watchdog. To all intents and purposes, the plan had been shelved.
DESPITE this clear message from the Taoiseach, however, Mr Bruton has rightly recognised that creating this role is now a social necessity. Moreover he has announced a short timeframe for consultation before he brings forward a draft Bill. Having made his decision he gives every sign of being determined not to delay or obfuscate.
Mr Bruton has also recognised that any such social media tsar must have real power to effect change. His proposals would ensure that rulings of the Commissioner can be enforced by the courts if necessary. They state that the Commissioner would have the power to impose fines on social media firms which fail to meet their obligations – and that they could even be prosecuted under the criminal law for failing to cooperate with the regulator.
These are critical powers to ensure the Commissioner can truly force the social media giants to change their ways. Bravo indeed to the minister for ensuring that the new watchdog will have teeth.
Perhaps even greater credit, though, should go to a number of our Oireachtas representatives from across the political spectrum who have brought pressure to bear on the Government to act. They include Fine Gael’s Hildegarde Naughton, who as chair of the Communications Committee has been forthright in her determination to bring in regulation – as has her party colleague, junior minister Jim Daly.
Sinn Féin’s Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire brought forward draft legislation to create a digital safety commissioner which will undoubtedly form the foundations of the new law.
Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley and Thomas Byrne have campaigned vocally for the measure too and Micheál Martin has used his influence as Fianna Fáil leader to force the issue on to the statute book. They, and many others besides, deserve not only the political accolades but the thanks of every parent in the country.
It should not be forgotten that Mr Martin himself also led from the front in the courageous battle to ensure that our Digital Age of Consent was not lowered to 13 – as the social media firms and various misguided NGOs were advocating – but was kept at 16 as it is in the majority of EU countries.
Equally we must not forget tireless academic advocates for online child safety such as Dr Mary Aiken and Professor Barry O’Sullivan, who have not been seduced by the glitter of Silicon Valley but have instead remained steadfast in their determination to expose the truth about child safety online.
Of course the battle to protect our children online has not yet been won. Even after an Online Safety Commissioner is appointed there are risks that will not be covered.
FOR example there is no clear provision requiring social media firms to verify the ages of users. As things stand very young children can create a Facebook or Instagram account by simply lying about their age. Equally only last week we heard the case of a predatory paedophile who was able to groom young girls into sex acts by posing as a young man (this particular individual used his own son’s Debs picture to fool children into believing he was a teenager himself).
It is not clear how far the new commissioner will be able to go in terms of protecting children from the kind of low-level bullying that social media enables whereby a girl
can be made to feel worthless because her peers agree not to ‘like’ her latest post.
This law will not halt the soaring rates of child anxiety, depression and suicide being recorded around the world as children retreat into their humanity-free virtual world.
This new watchdog cannot address the argument that, as the ESRI and others have proved, children who own a smartphone at a young age perform significantly worse at both maths and reading by the age of 13 than those who have no device.
Nor can he or she halt the rise in obesity among youngsters, who are not only abandoning healthy pursuits in favour of their screens – but are being bombarded with adverts for junk food while they are surfing their favourite social media channels.
And of course there is no obvious answer in this legislation to the point that increasingly young children are watching online pornography with devastating consequences. Only last month we reported how a 14-year-old boy had sexually assaulted his eight-yearold half-sister because he was acting out pornographic material he had viewed on a smartphone.
The truth of course is that as a society we have rushed to embrace the digital world without stopping to think about the consequences it might have on our most vulnerable citizens – children. We have simply given them the keys to an adult world – and left them to make their own way. It has been a scandalous dereliction of our duty to protect young people. Many would say it is, in its way, as disgraceful an act of abandonment as the failure to fight institutional and clerical abuse of children in previous decades.
This new measure alone will not redress the balance. But we must hope it marks a turning point. In the future, as we all become more aware of the dangers posed by the internet to children, the powers of the Online Safety Commissioner could be enhanced.
The watchdog will also have a powerful role in helping shape the educational messages we give to children and parents – including firm advice on the dangers that owning a smartphone, for example, can pose. And at the very least it suggests that at the highest reaches of Government the realisation has finally dawned that there is a problem here – and one which cannot just be left to parents or teachers to solve. Above all, it truly is a very good day for our children.