Age measures not stopping underage social media access
There has been no reduction in underage children's access to social media platforms, despite legal obligations which came into effect in July 2025 designed to prevent this.
A new report from online safety charity CyberSafeKids reveals that underage children continue to access social media platforms, despite legal measures enacted in July 2025. The research shows that many eight to twelve-year-olds still have accounts on apps intended for users aged thirteen and above. The study also highlights a surge in young people's use of generative artificial intelligence, leading to heightened exposure to negative online experiences, including scams and misleading information.
While collective efforts by parents to postpone smartphone and social media access for primary school-aged children have slowed down, CyberSafeKids notes that these efforts are not uniformly effective across all communities. CyberSafeKids CEO Alex Cooney argues that the ongoing debate about banning under-16s from social media overlooks the fact that existing laws are not adequately enforced.
Nicola Flannery, a Digital Trust & Privacy Partner at Deloitte Ireland, points out that children are engaging with digital environments not tailored to their developmental requirements, encountering harmful content at alarming rates. Ireland's Online Safety Code and the EU Digital Services Act have set a baseline, but the report underscores that regulation alone is insufficient.
To address the issue, regulators must close identified gaps, platforms need to implement safety measures from the start, schools must integrate digital literacy into their curricula, and parents must remain actively involved.
Written by urgent.news from RTE News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
