“We cannot regulate every risk" : Mayo TD calls for tech firms to prove products are safe for children

Mayo TD and Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Children, Keira Keogh, has called for technology companies to be required to prove that products and services are safe for children before they are made available to them.

Deputy Keogh said Ireland must move quickly to implement stronger protections once European Commission proposals covering social media, video-sharing platforms and AI chatbots are formally published.

She said the European proposals should be used to shift responsibility for children’s online safety away from parents and regulators towards the technology companies providing the services.

“We have seen a significant swell of movement on children’s online safety over recent months,” she said, pointing to legal cases in the US, Australia’s introduction of age restrictions and developments in Ireland around age verification through the Digital Wallet.

The Fine Gael TD also highlighted Coimisiún na Meán’s investigation into X and said the Oireachtas Committee on Children had been examining technology, social media and children as a key priority.

A report containing recommendations to Government is currently nearing completion.

Deputy Keogh said technology companies should have to demonstrate that their products are safe for children “by design”, rather than parents, regulators and governments having to prove that they are unsafe after harm has occurred.

She said this was particularly important in relation to algorithms, infinite scrolling, autoplay, contact from unknown adults and AI services.

“Age limits alone cannot substitute for a safer underlying digital environment,” she said.

Deputy Keogh also welcomed reports that AI chatbots will be included in the European proposals, warning of potential risks around emotional dependency, manipulation and exploitation.

“A chatbot can create a conversational relationship with its user,” she said, adding that the potential consequences needed to be understood where harmful attitudes involving misogyny, sexual aggression or coercion are reinforced.

“We cannot regulate every individual risk out of the internet,” Deputy Keogh concluded. “We need both a population equipped to navigate the digital world and technology companies required to make that world safer by design.”