First day of age checks on video sharing websites a let-down for parents - Mayo TD
PARENTS who are hoping for tighter controls on social media apps for their children are less than impressed with the introduction of new age verification regulations which came into force yesterday, a Fine Gael TD has said.
Mayo Deputy Keira Keogh, who is chair of the Oireachtas Children and Equality Committee, said that access to pornography and other disturbing videos and images is a “free for all” and more must be done to safeguard children’s access to harmful content.
Said Deputy Keogh: “Yesterday, July 21st, marked day one of new online safety rules coming into force in Ireland, which requires video-sharing platforms to have effective age verification systems in place. This means that social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X will be legally obliged to protect users from harmful content under the Online Safety Code.
“However, disappointingly, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X still required only self-declared age to create adult accounts and access adult content. This in essence means that children can go online and set up adult accounts which opens a doorway to unlimited inappropriate, disturbing and damaging content.
“Parents are understandably frustrated that as of now, nothing has changed and their kids are still at risk of being exposed to all that is sinister in the world of social media.
“Ireland’s Online Safety Code came into effect last year, and online platforms were given nine months’ grace to set up effective measures to stop underage users accessing inappropriate content. The code states that self-declaration is not sufficient, however, it is up to the platforms to implement the most appropriate solution for them, which is unsatisfactory and doesn’t go far enough, in my view.”
Under online safety law, any failure to do so can be punished by up to 6pc of a tech company’s annual turnover, a large enough penalty which could potentially cost billions of euro.
However, Ireland’s media regulator Coimisiún na Meán’s remit only stretches to enforcement on companies headquartered in Ireland, which include Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Google (YouTube) and X.
Not included in this remit are Snapchat, Pornhub and RedTube. For those services, it must liaise with European authorities in the countries where those services are based.
Deputy Keogh continued: “I have consistently said that we should legally force age verification systems on all pornographic websites accessible in Ireland, regardless of where these companies are headquartered.
“I was hopeful that yesterday’s move would signal the start point of a major overhaul of how we view access to content for young people and that we would build from here to ensure that the major services our kids are using, such as Snapchat, would be brought into the realm of regulation.
“The EU is currently developing a digital identity framework that may be used in association with age verification controls from later this year.
“While it is welcome that the Commission is working with European and UK counterparts to align age verification standards, yesterday’s commencement of much-anticipated stronger checks has fallen well short of where we need to be on this.
“The social media companies have had nine months to get on board with what’s now required of them - they must step up and take responsibility.”