Online Safety
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I thank Deputy Gibney for raising this and for her clear articulation of the dangers and challenges we all have to deal with in how we respond and protect young people. Online safety, and particularly the protection of young people online, is crucial to all of us and is also a whole-of-government priority.
It is timely that we are discussing this topic, given the developments at EU level which have been moving in recent times, particularly this week with President von der Leyen's address and outline of the European Commission's approach and the publication of the proposal for a new EU regulation, entitled the EU KIDS Act. The proposal addresses child safety online in two main ways. First, it will introduce a graduated approach to access to social media for children. Children under 13 will not have access to social media, with some very limited exceptions for child-friendly services. Children aged between 13 and 15 may have mini accounts, set up by parents or guardians with only age appropriate content and children over 15 may have autonomous accounts. Second, it will introduce new obligations on social media that prohibit design features such as infinite scroll and push notification during sleeping hours. The proposal will also introduce new obligations on more than just social media. It will also apply to online video games, Al companions and chatbots.
Now that the Commission’s proposal has been published, the discussions will move to the Council and the European Parliament. As online safety of children and young people is a priority for Ireland's EU Presidency, we will give priority to those negotiations. Ensuring online safety regulation is up to date and fit for purpose means that this will continue to be an evolving area. Moreover, given the breadth of online safety, it requires a variety of approaches.
The European Commission is preparing proposals to amend the audiovisual and media services directive, which are expected to include new measures on content, including harmful content. President von der Leyen also announced yesterday that a proposal for a new digital fairness Act will issue this autumn. This is due to include important new online consumer protections. As with the EU KIDS Act, the Irish Presidency will give priority to the negotiations on these safety proposals as they emerge.
We have also seen developments in the USA, where platforms have settled cases. We are clear that any improvements to child safety that can be made in other jurisdictions must be implemented in the EU, including Ireland, too. Once today’s proposals take effect, together with existing regulation, we will have secured that and even gone further.
I thank Deputy Gibney for raising it. This is something we will continue to seek to progress through the remainder of our Presidency. As we said from the outset, the Government's objective is to do this collectively, working at EU level because we believe that is the way to have the most impact on the protection of children and in the implementability of regulations

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17