Rónán Mullen: Calls for Ban on Children Creating Social Media Accounts
Rónán Mullen addresses the Seanad debate on the Children, Wellbeing and Schools Bill, calling for a ban on children creating social media accounts and stronger action against big tech. He praises recent House of Lords amendments and warns the government may be too timid to act.
What he said: Rónán Mullen welcomed pressure from the House of Lords after four votes for amendments to the Children, Wellbeing and Schools Bill. He argued that a review chamber like the Seanad should also insist that important issues are revisited and that legislation is robustly scrutinised.
Policy focus: Mullen proposed a targeted ban on children creating social media accounts rather than a blanket prohibition on access. He said account creation is the moment when children are particularly exposed to targeting and harm, and therefore a ban on account creation is a necessary starting point for reform.
Design harms and regulation: He warned against deferring to big tech and criticised some child rights organisations for prioritising formal rights over welfare. He urged attention to platform design features that cause harm, naming infinite scroll, recommender systems and algorithms as problems that need regulation.
Political implications: Mullen praised the British House of Lords for its role in pressing government amendments and suggested the Seanad should similarly hold government to account. He urged Irish ministers to follow the example set abroad if they will not act boldly at home.
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Thank you very much, Cathaoirleach. That is, that this has come about as a result from pressure from the House of Lords, who on four occasions voted for amendments to the Children, Wellbeing and Schools Bill brought forward by opposition members. And I would like to point to what a healthy sign that is of a democracy, and for us, also in a review chamber, it would be a very positive development if we in the Seannad kept the ball pucked out to government in the same way on legislation from time to time, insisting that certain issues be visited and revisited. We did that with some considerable success some years ago in the context of hate speech, but I think we should do more of it here in this House. The second point has to do with the merits of the case for a social media ban. I worry that our government could be too deferential to big tech and all of this, and I'm also unimpressed by supposed defenders of children's rights and welfare, such as the Children's Rights Alliance, who seem to me sometimes to be more interested in vindicating children's rights, even if it comes at the expense of their welfare, because the kind of excuses I hear for not introducing some kind of ban has to do with, you know, putting the pressure on parents or children, or children finding other sources, maybe more unregulated spaces. And all that seems to me is to mirror the talking points that we get from big tech about this. What I think needs to be focused on here is not a blanket ban on social media access for children per se, but as they have done in Australia, a ban on accounts being created by children, because it is when accounts are created that children on social media can be particularly targeted. And of course such a social media accounts ban is a necessary but not sufficient condition for improvement in this area, because we need to look at design integrated functions that cause problems like infinite scroll, like recommender systems and algorithms and so on. But well done to the British House of Lords, and I think we should follow their example if our government proves, as I fear, to be too timid on this issue. Míle buíochas.
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