An Cathaoirleach:.. Anois, glaoim ar an Seanadóir Mary Seery Kearney whom I believe is sharing time with Senator Dolan. Is it agreed that Senator Seery Kearney will have ten minutes and Senator Dolan will have six minutes? Agreed.

Senator Mary Seery Kearney: I move: “That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges that:

• the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, and the establishment of the online safety and media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, is a key Government strategy in the protection of children online;
• Coimisiún na Meán is developing Ireland’s online safety framework, through binding online safety codes in its capacity as Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator under the EU’s Digital Services Act, and it is currently developing the first online safety code to apply to video-sharing platform services;
• the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 contains financial penalties for failures to comply with the online safety codes;
• the Department and HSE have worked collaboratively to ensure that online signposting tools for mental health supports are in place, such as YourMentalHealth.ie;
• the Department, HSE and SpunOut are collaborating to commission the development of a dynamic web-based signposting tool for young people aged 16-34 years, to support their mental health;
• CyberSafe Kids, an organisation dedicated to online safety and healthy use of the internet, was allocated funding under Budget 2024 to support two campaigns - ‘Disconnect to Reconnect’ and a pre-Christmas campaign supporting parents to ensure their children have a safe, healthy and positive experience online;
• the Department of Education has led on supporting the responsible use of smartphones in supporting schools with a voluntary code in their use and that online safety, and the safe and ethical use of digital technologies, is a key component of the Department’s Digital Strategy for Schools;
• webwise (webwise.ie) promotes the autonomous, effective and safe use of the internet by young people, through a sustained information and awareness strategy targeting school leaders, teachers, parents and children themselves, with consistent and relevant 882 24 Aibreán 2024 messages by the development and dissemination of resources that help teachers integrate digital citizenship and online safety into teaching and learning in their schools (mostly through delivery of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum);

notes that:

• while the online world presents our children and young people with a breadth of wonderful opportunities, it can, however, also expose them to negative and potentially harmful experiences;
• assistive/digital technology can be highly beneficial for children with additional needs;
• many schools have already taken the initiative to put in place a voluntary code banning smart phone ownership and restricting their use;
• much of the concern regarding smartphone use has centred on cyberbullying, and while this is extremely important, but of equally important concern is the mounting evidence that rise in the use of smartphones among children under the age of 16 and its impact on mental health, where recommender algorithms are effectively promoting eating or feeding disorders and self-harm or suicide on video-sharing platforms, amongst a range of other harmful and illegal content;
• Coimisiún na Meán published a report in September 2023, to inform its approach to regulation of video sharing platform services entitled ‘Video-Sharing Platform Services; Online Harms Evidence Review’, that highlighted the harms manifesting on video sharing platforms;
• the US Surgeon General published a report entitled ‘Social Media and Youth Mental Health’, that warned of the risks of social media usage on youth mental health - including sleep deprivation, depression and anxiety; the data that led to this warning comes largely from research linking social media use to outcomes in adolescence;
• the business model of social media platforms is reliant on the attention capture of service users and that this model disincentivises such platforms from discouraging prolonged use;
• the CyberSafeKids smartphone usage report, published in February this year, showed that:

- almost a quarter (24 per cent) of six-year-olds have their own smartphone;

- 45 per cent of ten-year-olds are allowed use their smartphones in their bedrooms;

- just 28 per cent of parents use parental control; and

- 20 per cent of parents felt the good the internet could bring their children outweighed the risks;

• in a meeting in February, social media companies refused a request from the Minister for Education for the introduction of greater measures to protect children online and were not forthcoming on strengthening age verification;

calls on the Government to:

• acknowledge in policies and in future budget allocations that tackling the harms from excessive smartphone and social media use requires a whole-of-society approach, to include action by:

- policy makers and legislators;

- technology companies;

- parents and caregivers;

- children and adolescents;

• legislate to impose a smartphone ban on ownership by any person aged 13 and under;
• review the options, including legislative, to enforce the digital age of consent to ensure that no person aged under 16 years is permitted to open a social media account;
• oblige smartphone and social media companies to issue alert mental health warnings to users at 30 minute intervals;
• oblige smartphone and social media companies to advertise and make more transparent the options and usage of parental controls;
• enhance and increase age-appropriate digital literacy programs in schools to teach children about online safety, privacy and responsible usage of smartphones;
• include mandatory mental health and well-being education in school curricula, to raise awareness about the potential negative impacts of excessive screen time and social media use, to encourage cognitive security and cognitive resilience;
• enhance supports for mental health professionals to provide counselling services and support for children experiencing mental health issues related to smartphone use;
• promote, via a public information campaign, digital detox periods and healthy habits for screen time management among children, to include guides around screen time management, warning of the impacts of smartphone use of anxiety, social isolation, withdrawal and mental health;
• promote balanced and healthy active lifestyles for children and young people, encouraging activities that involve engagement with others and the importance of investment in under-age sports, arts, activities, youth clubs, scouting and guiding, Foroige and other extra-curricular activities; and
• implement stricter regulation on the design and marketing of apps and online content targeting children to minimize harmful influences.”

[Click here for the full debate on the Oirechtas website]