Children's Rights Alliance CEO: The online world isn't designed with children in mind 

Tanya Ward says that children make up one-third of global online users and need a safety net  

Only 19% of children report telling a parent about issues that have upset them online. Picture: iStock 

Internet Safety Day is today, and it’s good to know that the Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Bill, published last month, has the potential to put an end to the age of self-regulation by the big tech and social media giants – and create a much-needed level of accountability.

“Children make up one-third of global users of the internet, yet nearly all online platforms ignore this fact. The online world isn’t designed with children in mind – the products are being designed for adults.”

So says Children’s Rights Alliance CEO Tanya Ward, who believes the Bill could open the window to a safer online world for children/young people in Ireland. But critical changes to the Bill are needed, she says. Chiefly: to provide for an effective individual complaints mechanism – and to enable the Online Safety Commissioner (OSC) to take swift action against non-compliant platforms.

She cites recent research from digital and children’s rights charity 5Rights Foundation, which found child accounts were targeted with graphic content within 24 hours of creating an online social media account.

To test a child’s experience, researchers created avatars to simulate the experience without putting anyone at risk. Within hours, the avatar accounts were targeted with direct messages from adult users, asking to connect and offering pornography. 

Here, a 2021 study conducted by National Advisory Council on Online Safety found most children are positive about the internet. They say there are good elements for their age. People being nasty to each other (24%), and bullying (22%), stand out as the most mentioned issues that upset young people.

Ward is concerned that children and their parents/carers have different perceptions of children’s experiences. For example, 53% of parents say they help their child when something bothers them on the internet. Yet, only 19% of children report telling a parent about issues that have upset them online.

Ward says an individual complaints mechanism – where someone could raise a complaint with the OSC when a platform fails to give them a satisfactory response – would be a vital safety net for children/young people and would place responsibility on platforms to make their services safer for children.

“Companies have got off the hook for a long time. We should be obligating them, when developing products, to think about the impact on young people and to put safety and privacy measures in place before putting products on the market,” says Ward.

• Children's Rights Alliance Helpline: 01-902 0494; [e-mail]

Safer Internet Day

Webwise and National Parents Council Primary are supporting parents through the #TalkListenLearn campaign.

The campaign highlights the importance of having regular, open conversations with children/teens to ensure they have a safe, positive experience online.

A suite of supportive resources includes: updated Webwise parent guide to a better internet, talking points for parents, #TalkListenLearn Topic Generator – to encourage more open conversations between parents and children.

Access free advice and resources atwebwise.ie/parents

A new series of online safety-focused series Alva's World - which frames real-life internet security and kindness habits in the form of easy-to-understand narratives - begins today on RTÉ Jr. and RTÉ 2, with episodes also available on RTÉ Player.