The majority of children are telling us that their online experience is broadly not a positive one. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty ImagesChildren have a right to participate in the online world and to be protected from harm when doing it. They have a right to true and accurate information, and not to be exploited for commercial reasons. That’s what the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child tells us – but as we all know these worthy goals are entirely disconnected from current reality.
The other critical component of any solution is regulation. The tech companies behind the myriad services that Irish children use in huge numbers – Google, Meta, TikTok, Roblox and other gaming companies such as Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite – have a responsibility to ensure that children will be safe on their platforms.
quid pro quo in terms of their safety and meaningful efforts to protect children. The current, heavily advertised, safeguarding efforts that companies are making fall woefully short, and we should be deeply suspicious of their claims to be able to self-regulate.