Ministers to get tough on social media ‘child abuse’
THE Government is preparing to come down hard on social media companies in a similar manner to the abolition of smoking unless the tech giants get their house in order, three senior Fianna Fáil ministers have warned.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Education Minister Norma Foley accused some social media companies of engaging in a form of child abuse.
She said: ‘What we’re suggesting is parents should not buy smartphones for children in primary school. I think it’s quite appalling to see that there are children as young as six and seven who are being groomed online.
‘There’s the extortion of children who are duped into providing inappropriate images online and content that no young people really should be exposed to. It is a minefield.
‘I think it’s interesting to note that keeping childhood smartphone-free is gaining traction right across the world. We see it’s a very live issue in the United Kingdom now as well,’ she said.
‘So, I’m very pleased with the embrace that it is getting from parents and schools across the country.’
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has bluntly claimed that social media companies are targeting children for commercial gain.
In his Ard Fheis speech Mr Martin claimed: ‘The mental health, educational and social damage to many children’ represented a similar challenge to banning smoking in the workplace 20 years ago.
Mr Martin noted that while the smoking ban had met with ferocious resistance, ‘thousands of lives have been saved because we took the long-term view’.
He warned: ‘The new public health crisis of our time is the impact on children of social media and being constantly online.’
Mr Martin said that as part of the new plan, ‘clear, accessible guidance will be available to every parent on what to do concerning your child and the online world.
‘Every school will be given funding to support the banning of smartphone use during school time.’
And he told the social media companies, ‘Our message is clear: Take concrete steps to get underage children off your apps or we will impose those steps on you.’
The Tánaiste reiterated his concerns in the Irish Mail on Sunday yesterday, citing the warning from Michel Desmurget, the leading French neuroscientist, that social media is evolving into ‘a silent aggression, carried out without any qualms or any sense of restraint, for the benefits of a few people and to the detriment of almost all’.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, who has previously said he supports a ban on smartphones in schools, told the Ard Fheis: ‘I am determined that this Government will take further actions to protect children from the damage from certain smartphone and social media use.
‘It is not okay to target children with content glorifying self-harm, or suicide, or eating disorders, or violence against women. Companies must be tightly regulated and must be held to account.’
‘The public health crisis of our time’