13 is too young to have a social media account – Ní Mhurchú

Ní Mhurchú believes we should raise the age at which a child can access a social media account to 16 

Newly elected MEP for Ireland South, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, has committed to tackling social media companies who are dragging their heels when it comes to protecting Irish children from being exposed to harmful, violence and sexual content online. The Ireland South MEP has vowed to work with her colleagues in the European Parliament to introduce a minimum age of 16 for children registering social media accounts. 

Most social media companies currently have a minimum age of 13 to register a social media account, an age which Ní Mhurchú says independent research shows is too young for children to deal with the types of content that children are exposed to on social media. 

According to Ni Mhurchú, Children as young as 8 can bypass the rules and register a social media account in as little as 5 clicks. Ní Mhurchú points to research by Cybersafe kids, an Irish charity which aims to protect children online, which shows that 84% of Irish children, aged between 8 and 12 have their own social media account – despite a minimum age limit of 13! 

The digital age of consent is the minimum age a user must be before a social media or internet company can collect, process and store their data. In Ireland, this is currently 16 which means that children between the age of 13 and 16 years must have parental permission to sign-up to social media for the purpose of data collection. 

According to Ni Mhurchú, 

“Children can get around the minimum age limit of 13 because social media companies do not have robust age verification processes in place. They value profit over child protection and unless they are willing to take action immediately, legislators have an obligation to protect children from harmful, illegal, sexually explicit and violent content online” 

According to Ni Mhurchú the impacts of social media use on young children is clear. A report by the US Surgeon General in 2023, based on a study commissioned, showed children and teenagers who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety, depression and the key risk factors associated with suicide. 

These findings were verified by a UCD longitudinal mental health study of 19,000 Irish teenagers which showed that those who spend 3 hours or more a day online are “significantly more likely to report higher levels of stress”.