"We need to ask what we're trying to solve"
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What is the EU Kids Act and how does it propose to limit children’s access to social media?
LiveLine with Kieran Cuddihy on RTÉ Radio 1.
Now, I mentioned the EU Kids Act. It's going to be revealed in all its glory tomorrow, but details of it have been leaked today. So this is the piece of legislation that's meant to protect children online. Remember all of those calls to do something about online safety in this country? And the response from politicians and government was, hold your horses. We can't do anything on our own. We've got to do this as a bloc. Every member state coming together. It's got to be European. So this is the answer to all of those calls. So just to remind you, if you haven't been listening, a total ban on children using social media if they're under three years old. That's really in it. They've had to include that for the two-year-olds on TikTok.
If you're three to 13, you can only use child-friendly versions of social media. 13 to 15, you can use social media, but with parental consent. 15 to 18, you can use social media without parental consent, but it must be safe by design. So we don't really know what any of that means. Safe by design, child friendly. We don't know what parental consent looks like. We don't know what responsibility, if any, falls in the social media companies. So if it's meant to make the online world safer, the question is, will this work? And if not, what will? 0818715815. Aisling Maloney is on the line. Aisling, what do you think?
Hi. Yeah, thanks for having me, I suppose. I suppose my first reaction when I read the news was really disappointing. I think there's a really important conversation that needs to be had about how we protect children and young people online. And young people themselves are very scared that they want safer online spaces and they want the governments and platforms to take responsibility for that, rather than all of the onus being put on young people themselves.
And is your sense that this is just putting the onus again on young people?
Yeah, I think the proposal kind of presents the age ban as a silver bullet. But what we need to do is we need to ask what problem we're trying to solve, whether a restriction would actually work in practice, and then what happens to young people who rely on online spaces for receiving information, for connecting with different communities, for receiving support and getting public participation as well.
I tell you what, Aisling, you stay with us. We might just get you on a slightly better line. It was given out in a bit, but Leo Galvin is on the line as well. And again, if anybody wants to join the conversation with Leo and Aisling and others who've been getting in touch since I mentioned this, 087 484 888 is the WhatsApp number. It's best to message that way or just call 0818 715 815. Leo, what's your early assessment of this?
How does the legislation define age‑based restrictions for different user groups?
Look, I'd be in the same mind as Aisling. This kind of puts forward a lot of different issues that I think either we haven't seen or we have seen and we're just not paying attention. Just last week, there was a massive conference held by Patrick O'Donovan, the Minister for Communications in Ireland, bringing EU experts from all over the place. to Dublin Castle with himself and the executive vice president of Raccoon. And we were all there to talk about online safety for children. And this ban is, it's not what we recommended. It's not what came out of that conference. And I'm just myself not too happy seeing it.
But do you interpret this as a ban? Because it's, I mean, the only outright ban is for children under the age of three. Up until age 13, then, it says you can use child-friendly versions. And then after that, you can do what you want, really. If you're 13, 14 or 15, you need to ask for your parents' consent.
Yeah. See, I understand that massively. And this was one of the recommendations that came out of a child forum. So a bunch of children from Ireland met and came up with this kind of recommendation. But more broadly across the conference, and especially what I think is, that just is pushing away from the actual issues that we're trying to address.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the EU Kids Act and how does it propose to limit children’s access to social media?
0:00–2:44
2
How does the legislation define age‑based restrictions for different user groups?
2:44–6:53
3
What concerns do experts like Aisling Maloney raise about the effectiveness of age bans?
6:53–10:26
4
What insights were shared from the recent EU online‑safety conference and why do participants oppose a blanket ban?
10:26–13:30
5
Why do some speakers argue that focusing on age is a distraction from harmful platform features?
13:30–17:41
6
How could stronger regulation of algorithms and design features better protect children than age limits?
17:41–21:44
7
What role should regulators and fines play in enforcing safe‑by‑design requirements for social media?
21:44–25:07
8
What are the next steps and potential outcomes once the EU Kids Act is formally unveiled?
25:07–28:34