For the first time, new regulations aimed at protecting Irish children online have been enacted – the ‘wild West’ era of social media is over. At least, that’s according to the Government, which this week announced the beginning of the Online Safety Code.

It’s taken the law over 20 years to catch up with social media – and in the meantime, a whole generation of children has been exposed to violence, pornography, self-harm content and misogyny, with only some minor attempts at protecting them from Big Tech.

But Ireland’s Online Safety Code is part of a wider effort including Europe’s Digital Services Act, the UK’s Digital Services Act and new Australian rules around social media which includes under 16s being banned from opening YouTube accounts. The measures have been widely welcomed in Ireland but have become the subject of huge debate in the UK. 

So – what are the rules, what are the penalties, and crucially, do they have enough teeth?

Irish Examiner journalist Sean Murray joins Deirdre O’Shaughnessy on this week’s episode of the Mick Clifford podcast

You can read Sean Murray’s take on the Online Safety Code here: Will tech giants finally take online safety for children seriously?

Clare O’Donoghue Velikic’s piece about Meta is here: Meta's ban on political ads will mean less transparency and more slop for users

Alex Cooney from Cybersafe Kids wrote recently in the Irish Examiner about Big Tech and children: Social media aimed at kids is driven by profit, not safety

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