Ciarán Cudahy

Aisling is on the line as well.

Aisling, are you in favour of a ban as the minister proposes or do you agree with Leo?

Why?

like it has so many benefits in terms of letting young people access like getting in touch with their friends accessing supports like mental health supports or just finding information about the different issues that they're struggling with in life So how then do you square that say access to social to mental health supports with all the evidence from you know the WHO or the CDC and academic studies and what have you that say you know it's arguably detrimental to people's mental health

But, you know, again, those studies I mentioned and that there's randomised control tests and longitudinal studies and different things they've done.

they say it's, you know, it's exacerbated.

It's not that, you know, they're saying mental health problems didn't exist for young people and they were caused by social media, but that they're worse now, that there's increased anxiety because of it and loneliness and isolation and suicidal ideation and self-harm.

you know, you know, the youth club example, you know, the youth club that provided you with those supports wasn't also damaging your mental health at the same time.

But these studies would suggest social media is.

So because I've heard this argument made in the Australian context that they shouldn't have done this, they should have actually gone after the companies and and the algorithm, as it were, so that you're not funneled when you look for, I don't know, get fit content, that you're not going to funnel down some thinspo rabbit hole and you end up with kind of extreme fasting content and body dysmorphia and what have you that that actually if you.

dismantle those algorithms, that that would be a better way of protecting young people.

Is that it?

I don't know if WhatsApp counts as a social media platform, but we're on WhatsApp if people want to get in touch that way.

087 484 888.

And I know we've heard from one Leo.

There's another Leo actually on the line as well after getting in touch.

Leo, do you think the Minister is on the right track here and that we should ban social media for under-16s?

I think there was talk of tying it in Ireland to your PPS and there would be a separate piece of software, like a kind of a digital vault, if you'd imagine it, where things would be sourced.

Yeah, something like that, essentially.

So the platforms wouldn't actually have access to it, but there'd be a separate piece of software that would be able to verify it through that.