Online platforms are harming children in ‘really sinister, dark ways’, says Donnelly

Online platforms are harming children in “really sinister, dark ways” and the time of asking or expecting platforms to do the right thing is over, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said.
Mr Donnelly on Wednesday announced the establishment of the Online Health Taskforce, which has been instructed to develop a public health response to the harms caused to children and young people by some types of online activity.
Led by children’s rights advocate Jillian van Turnhout, the taskforce has been asked to consider the range of social, mental health, physical health and sexual harms online activity can cause and to recommend strategic responses to address this “public health crisis”.
These recommendations may include national guidelines, regulations, legislation, education and awareness campaigns, as well as additional health and social care supports.
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There have been a number of legislative actions in recent months at Irish and EU level to regulate online activity and Mr Donnelly said one area the taskforce will examine is whether this legislation needs to be strengthened or extended.
“It’s about saying [to online platforms] your product must be safe. The online platforms know all of this, they know their products are not safe,” the Minister said. “Some of them have taken some steps, many have done virtually nothing; they are knowingly, allowing this to happen.
“We need to stop having a conversation and saying ‘would you mind doing the right thing?’ And instead say ‘you’re harming children in really serious ways and so we are going to insist on age verification. If and when you make your product safe, you don’t need age verification’.”
In terms of penalisation for sites who do not comply with safety regulations, Mr Donnelly said he believes it should be a combination of fines and criminal convictions against executives.
“I believe the executives need to be held to account, not just the companies on a financial level. We’re all aware of platforms where they have been asked to take down horrific content and they refuse to do so. The time of asking or expecting platforms to do the right thing is over,” he added.
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Prof Mary Horgan, interim Chief Medical Officer, said the digital world is “relatively new, but evidence increasingly shows that its negative impacts can be devastating and long-lasting”.
“The Online Health Taskforce has a very important remit in evaluating the harms caused by some types of online behaviours and in examining the most effective ways to address these harms,” she said.
“Its recommendations will be critical in shaping the development of robust policies to safeguard the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the digital space.”
The taskforce will hold its first meeting this month and will deliver an interim report within six months. Its final report will be submitted next September.