Social media giants to tell Oireachtas committee children are safe online

Kenneth Fox

Social media firms will seek to convince TDs and senators that it is committed to keeping children safe online.

Representatives from Snapchat, TikTok, Meta, Google, and Microsoft will address the Oireachtas children’s committee on Thursday, with Meta representatives set to say “the safety and well-being of young people on our platforms is a core priority”.

As the Irish Examiner reports, Meta, which owns the Facebook and Instagram platforms, will tell politicians it has teen-specific accounts that come with protections.

On Instagram, these built-in protections include private accounts by default, the strictest content control settings, overnight notifications being turned off, and app usage reminders after 60 minutes.

“We know that 97 per cent of teens aged 13-15 have stayed in these built-in restrictions,” Meta will say.

“Last year, we expanded teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger, meaning that teens now benefit from these built-in protections across all of our major platforms.

"Hundreds of millions of teen accounts are now active globally, and this number continues to grow as the rollout extends to further countries.”

A representative for TikTok will tell politicians that it, too, has similar settings, but that “safety doesn’t stop with settings”.

“When teens need support, parents are often the first people they can turn to, making them one of our most important partners.

"That’s why we remain focused on reaching parents with the information they need about TikTok.

Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the Committee meeting, Cathaoirleach, Keira Keogh, said: “When we began examining the Safety and Well-being of Children Online, the Committee was clear that the protection of children from harmful content and exploitation online is our priority.

"Children should not have access to inappropriate or extreme content nor be exposed to cyberbullying, online sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual extortion, manipulation, and coercion.

“The Committee also outlined its concern about addictive design and algorithms that expose children to inappropriate material, as well as artificial intelligence and deepfake content specifically aimed at them."

She said across their meetings with regulators, gardai, child protection advocates, the Ombudsman for Children, and groups of children and young people, they heard evidence of the dangers children face online and what needs to be done to protect them from such exposure.

“It is in that context that we welcome this engagement with the representatives from the social media companies, whose platforms are used by children.

"The Committee looks forward to hearing from them what their companies are doing to protect children and young people from inappropriate and harmful content.

“The meeting is our last engagement on this topic. The Committee will now examine the evidence we have heard from all our stakeholders and then compile a report containing our conclusions and recommendations," she said.