The Government may “plough on” with its own national age limits for social media, after some European countries decided to try to ban children under 15 or 16 from certain social networks.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said it is still “preferable” that a new age limit for social media be agreed at European level, but indicated that if that is not secured by the time Ireland’s new age verification technology is ready, then the Government may decide to draft its own law.
The Government has previously indicated it would only agree to a new age limit for social media once it is agreed at European level. Ministers had previously been briefed by the Office of the Attorney General that there was no legal basis on which Ireland could legislate for a digital age of majority, while the Department of Communications had previously warned that the Digital Services Act indicated that digital policies needed to be harmonious across the EU.
But in recent weeks a number of member states have brought forward their own plans for new online age limits, with France, Spain and Greece all announcing plans for their own laws.
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Speaking on Tuesday, which is Internet Safety Day, Harris said he feels “very strongly” that children “are not safe on the internet – simple as”.
“There needs to be a minimum age in relation to social media. This isn’t a radical concept, we have a minimum age in relation to when you can smoke, when you can drink, when you can vote, when you can have sex, when you go to certain movies, countless examples. And therefore, social media shouldn’t be treated any differently,” Harris said on his way into a Cabinet meeting.
“I’m absolutely not in favour of sitting idly by and waiting for Europe to act. What I am saying, though, is that it’s preferable if Europe moves together, because that provides greater consistency and greater protection for children, and it’s probably easier to implement and operate, and it just provides greater certainty.”
The Tánaiste said an “important first step” for social media age limits was to introduce new age-verification technology, which the Government is proposing to use through a new online ID linked to a person’s PPS number. Harris said this was because he did not think age verification can be left “to the social media companies or outsourced to private tech companies”.
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“So bringing in a state age-verification system is an important first step, and then we’ll, at that stage, have to make a call as to whether we can all move together at a European level or whether we should plough on at a domestic level. But I don’t rule that out.”
Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan said his priority was to get the age verification process “up and running” which would require legislation.
O’Donovan said his French counterpart would be coming to Dublin to examine legislation they are introducing.
“There is a lot of scope for commonality here, and there’s a lot of room for us to cooperate at an EU level, which we will,” he said.
The Minister said he did not believe it was “too intrusive” for people to provide proof of their age in order to access social media and that the vast majority of parents wanted this.
“Whether it’s in relation to a person’s necessity to provide proof of their age or proof that they are over 16, that does not trump a child’s right to be protected,” he added.
