THE TAOISEACH AND Tánaiste both welcomed Keir Starmer’s move to implement a ban on social media for those aged under-16 - but not all political parties are sure it is the most effective way to tackle the issue.
Australia became the first country to implement such a ban back in January, however, it isn’t clear if it’s working. A March report from the country’s eSafety commissioner found that 70% of parents surveyed said their kids had active social media accounts.
Australia’s national broadcaster ABC recently reported that social media companies may not be conducting the required age checks. And if they do, kids are getting around them with creative ideas, for example, by uploading pictures of Michael Jackson for a facial age checker, rather than themselves.
After Starmer announced his plans to implement a ban, Micheál Martin and Simon Harris said the government is considering doing the same, but would hope to move at European Union level.
During the week minister for children Norma Foley also said she is very open to a ban. She plans to bring together youth representatives from across Ireland to ask for their views on it in September or October.
“Personally, I’m certainly open to such a proposal, because to my mind it’s very clear at this stage that social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, are really only interested in keeping the eyeballs of young people on their services for as long as possible,” she said.
But not everyone is so keen on the idea.
We asked Sinn Féin and People Before Profit-Solidary, who operate in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, what they make of the UK social media ban. We also Northern Ireland specific parties like Alliance and the SDLP.
Enforcement and effectiveness
Sinn Féin spokesperson for culture Joanne Byrne told The Journal that the party is opposed to the ban, and she does not believe it is enforceable or will be effective at improving online safety.
“It may drive teens to the darker, unregulated, corners of the internet,” she said.
She said that expert witnesses called in hearings in the Culture, Communications and Sports Committee on Online Safety never recommended a ban.
The TD said the members who attended all hearings on this, including all the government parties and opposition parties’ members of the committee, had “changed their minds” on a ban by the end of the process.
“I do not believe that this state should follow the UK’s example and introduce an under 16s social media ban,” she added.
People Before Profit-Solidarity’s Paul Murphy said the ban doesn’t work in Australia and “won’t do anything meaningful”.
Murphy proposed a ban on social media companies using algorithms aimed at under-18s earlier this year in the Dáil. The Online Safety (Recommender Algorithms) Bill 2026, sought to address “toxic” online content aimed at children.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil blocked the bill from progressing into law, arguing at the time that the issues it sought to address were already being dealt with by Ireland’s media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán.
Speaking to reporters during the week, the TD said the bill followed expert advice on protecting children from online harm.
“Micheál Martin, his government, voted that bill down, why? Because they are in hock to the big tech companies. They don’t want to do anything meaningful, and instead trail pathetically after Keir Starmer raising the idea of a ban which doesn’t work,” added.
“Effectively it’s to look as if you’re doing something while avoiding the one thing that all the experts agree is the thing to do.”
Harris has repeatedly raised his concerns around the impact of social media on young people.
Back in January, he said he wanted to put an age restriction on social media as it is “experimenting with the minds” of young people. He described the impact of social media on young people, both nationally and intentionally, as being “on the verge of a public health emergency”.
‘Unanswered questions’
Alliance MLA Michelle Guy said, although action is needed on social media, “many unanswered questions remain” about the ban.
Guy, who is also chair of the Assembly’s all-Party Group on Online Safety, said: “It is clear action is needed to address the increasingly harmful and addictive nature of social media platforms.”
“But it is important to recognise important questions remain unanswered at this stage,” she added.
“Campaigners have been clear social media restrictions that aren’t or can’t be properly enforced may do more harm than good, and so vague promises about a future enforcement strategy does little to inspire confidence.
“There is a risk blanket bans may push young people to other, even more dangerous parts of the internet, as well as cutting them off from important sources of learning, information and peer support.”
She said the focus should be on “holding social media giants to account for their failure to stamp out the harmful content”.
However, SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP said the ban is an “inevitable consequence of years of failure to tackle the online wild west”.
“It has been clear for some time that the harms associated with social media now outweigh many of its benefits and that meaningful intervention is required if we are serious about keeping young people safe,” she said.
She emphasised that any ban must be followed by proper education in schools, support for parents and “meaningful penalties for companies that allow people to act online with impunity”.
Do you think the government should ban social media for under-16s?