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A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>Australia's prime minister vowed on Friday to bullet-proof laws supporting a social media ban for under-16s as the government prepares legal action against platforms amid a steady stream of evidence that the ban ‌has had little impact on teen use.</p>

world

Australia vows to bullet-proof ban on social media for under-16s

There has been a steady stream of evidence that the ban has had little impact

<p>Corrinne Hasson from the National Women’s Council told Oireachtas members that recent reports about UCD’s 'mishandling of a medical student’s case involving rape and image-based sexual abuse' were among the most 'harrowing stories to date'. Picture: Maxwells</p>

court and crime

Tech firms need to be asked why image-based sexual abuse is 'more widespread'

<p>It is very clear at this stage that social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, to name just a few, are only interested in keeping the eyeballs of young people on their services for as long as possible so they can sell advertising to them.</p>

comment-analysis

Norma Foley: We must listen to young voices regarding social media ban

War of Independents as Mattie McGrath and Michael Collins trade blows on Facebook

politics

War of Independents as Mattie McGrath and Michael Collins trade blows on Facebook

Two Business People Using Mobile Phone in The Train

comment-analysis

EU Court of Justice ruling may have just radically changed social media regulation

Sarah Harte Writer head shot.png

Sarah Harte: I channelled David Hockney to try and live in the now after my car and laptop died

teenage school girls being cyber bullies or just catching up on social media both on there phones, hand level copy space above

Children will use 'workarounds' to access social media if age restriction is introduced, experts warn

Under-16s will change their date of birth, set up fake profiles or use their parents/older siblings PPS number to access social media, they say

Mon, 15 Jun, 2026

Social media ban for children under 16

Ireland to consider age verification as UK moves to ban under-16s from social media

Simon Harris said Ireland should 'follow suit' with the UK

Mon, 15 Jun, 2026

Caitríona Redmond: How much can you earn from social media? Here's what I got for a viral video

Caitríona Redmond: How much can you earn from social media? Here's what I got for a viral video

Irked by social media advertising? Maybe the problem lies with the platforms not valuing the work creators do?

Mon, 15 Jun, 2026

Asian Chinese little girl playing smartphone at outdoor cafe

Parents cannot fully protect children online from predators, says Irish Internet Hotline chief

Council of Europe and Irish experts call for tougher action as AI-generated abuse material proliferates online

Sat, 13 Jun, 2026

Colin Sheridan: Expertly operating the machinery of influence

Colin Sheridan: Expertly operating the machinery of influence

We are in living in the age of influencer journalism

Sat, 13 Jun, 2026

Friday Night Lights

S Jennifer Horgan: Kyle Chandler reels? Fine. But such scrolling could destroy my interior life

Although enjoying the ‘Friday Night Lights’ links, Jennifer Horgan headed back, in her own mind, to two recently-published books that pay better regard to our interior selves

Fri, 12 Jun, 2026

BRITAIN-NIRELAND-POLICE-INVESTIGATION-IMMIGRATION

Irish Examiner view: We must prepare for online threat ahead of Ireland's EU presidency

Belfast unrest shows how online disinformation — from hostile states, extremist networks, or online agitators — can easily escalate a local incident into a global flashpoint

Fri, 12 Jun, 2026

Government to progress bill that would ban online deepfakes

Government to progress bill that would ban online deepfakes

The proposed legislation has been put forward by Fianna Fáil TD for Wicklow-Wexford Malcolm Byrne

Thu, 11 Jun, 2026

North Belfast stabbing

Belfast stabbing victim's family condemn disinformation about Stephen Ogilvie's condition

'False information circulating on social media is forcing us to clarify that our loved one is in fact in a stable condition'

Wed, 10 Jun, 2026

Ireland's European Union presidency will not disrupt Dáil's work – Taoiseach

Ireland's European Union presidency will not disrupt Dáil's work – Taoiseach

Government announces six-month programme which begins with a European Commission meeting in Cork on July 2

Wed, 10 Jun, 2026

YouTube overtakes Netflix for daily viewing around the world

YouTube overtakes Netflix for daily viewing around the world

Analysts say Alphabet-owned platform’s evolution is one of the defining media shifts of the decade

Wed, 03 Jun, 2026

A child using smart phone lying in bed late at night

Parents in Sweden told: 'Put your phone away when you're with your child'

Adults who 'create good screen habits for themselves' would influence children’s habits, says agency as guidelines published

Mon, 01 Jun, 2026

Young increasingly encounter grooming and sextortion, Cork Childline service says

Young increasingly encounter grooming and sextortion, Cork Childline service says

The Cork branch of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) is seeking volunteers for its Childline service

Mon, 01 Jun, 2026

Woman using injection pen to administer weight loss drug

Unqualified influencers are promoting dangerous peptides and regulators can't cope

Regulators are struggling to keep up as peptides are pushed by social media influencers as shortcuts to fat loss, anti-ageing, health and recovery, and muscle growth

Sat, 30 May, 2026

Temu fined €200m by EU over illegal and unsafe products sold online

Temu fined €200m by EU over illegal and unsafe products sold online

The European Commission said EU consumers were 'very likely' to encounter illegal and unsafe products on Temu

Thu, 28 May, 2026

By-election candidates faced 'racist, xenophobic and misogynistic' abuse online

By-election candidates faced 'racist, xenophobic and misogynistic' abuse online

Harassment and disinformation were circulated across social media platforms including X, Facebook, and YouTube in the lead-up to polling in the Galway West and Dublin Central by-elections

Thu, 28 May, 2026

Leo XIV

S Sarah Harte: If we can’t make AI work for us, I’ll meet you at the barricades

Meta's layoffs of Irish staff, Geoffrey Hinton's fears about AI, and Pope Leo's encyclical have all raised fears about AI this week

Wed, 27 May, 2026

X's AI chatbot Grok

X could face significant financial penalties and 'heightened' regulatory scrutiny

A ministerial briefing note said X's actions are 'positioning Grok as a key test case for the enforcement of AI and platform regulation'

Tue, 26 May, 2026

©ITV

Galway footballer Seán Fitzgerald confirmed to appear on Love Island

Fitzgerald, 25, will appear as a contestant on the British dating programme, which is set in Majorca and starts on ITV on June 1

Tue, 26 May, 2026

'Spoiler: it’s business as usual': X explains new meaning of blue checkmark

It comes in the wake of a €120m fine dished out by Europe last year over the 'deceptive design' of the blue checkmark on the platform

Mon, 25 May, 2026

Violence against women: Senior garda warns of 'manosphere'

Violence against women: Senior garda warns of 'manosphere'

Angela Willis says gardaí are increasingly seeing the influence of social media feeding boys and men with violent, misogynistic content

Sat, 23 May, 2026

Yves Sakila protest

Emer O'Neill: I was born here. I represented Ireland — when will I be Irish enough for the racists?

Yves Sakila's death after an alleged attempted theft inspires EMER O'NEILL to ponder racism in Ireland — against immigrants, certainly, but also against black Irish people

Sat, 23 May, 2026

Channel 4 stock

Colin Sheridan: Harm caused by reality TV is increasingly hard to ignore

This entertainment model increasingly appears dependent upon emotional destabilisation, sexual exposure, and psychological risk

Sat, 23 May, 2026

File Photo Some Google Services including Gmail were down for a time today
On Gmail, an error message read: “We’re sorry, but yo

How to add the 'Irish Examiner' as a preferred source on Google

Google's new Preferred Sources gives news readers more sway over which media content they receive in their search results

Fri, 22 May, 2026

Meta layoffs expected

Alan Healy: Ireland's luck may be running out with Big Tech and job cuts

Tech employment has fallen by 20,300 over the past year, the lowest level in five years. Not a blip, more like a structural shift.

Fri, 22 May, 2026

Government turns to TikTok to highlight risks of cosmetic surgery abroad

40% surge in peer-on-peer sex assault cases referred to specialist service

Conference hears concerns about 'manosphere' influencers and extreme pornography

Fri, 22 May, 2026

Employment in the tech sector falls by over 20,000

Employment in the tech sector falls by over 20,000

According to the CSO, as of the end of March this year, there were approximately 169,200 people working in the ICT sector in Ireland

Thu, 21 May, 2026

AI-related layoffs likely to continue without proper oversight, unions warn

AI-related layoffs likely to continue without proper oversight, unions warn

350 staff at the Irish arm of Meta have been informed that their roles have been cut

Wed, 20 May, 2026

Meta layoffs expected

Meta to cut around 350 Irish jobs as part of AI push

Meta employs approximately 1,800 workers in Ireland, and the impacted staff have been notified that their roles are being cut

Wed, 20 May, 2026

Calls to limit the use of 'creepy' AI smart glasses to film people without consent

Calls to limit the use of 'creepy' AI smart glasses to film people without consent

Senator Laura Harmon said reports of women in Cork being filmed during medical emergencies and in workplaces show regulation 'needs to keep pace' with evolving technologies

Wed, 20 May, 2026

Kieran Connell: Ireland has a long multicultural history. It's time to tell that story

Kieran Connell: Ireland has a long multicultural history. It's time to tell that story

Refugees from Hungary and Belgium; migrant workers from Poland and Germany; doctors from Africa and Asia — over the last century, Ireland was far more diverse than many of us seem to realise

Wed, 20 May, 2026

Whatsapp, Messenger, Telegram and other phone chat Apps on iPhone screen

Judge warns litigants not to take photos in court amid claims that a senior garda did so

High Court previously heard a pic was taken in court of a senior garda whistleblower and three associates, and that it was shared on WhatsApp with a request to put 'a name to a face'

Tue, 19 May, 2026

Irish Cabinet meeting

Polymarket bets on Dublin Central by-election causing 'grave concerns' – Tánaiste

Simon Harris promised a deep dive into the 'wild west' of online betting markets that he said were 'secretive, murky, and unregulated'

Tue, 19 May, 2026

Ebun Joseph: Bertie Ahern's anti-immigrant comments are nothing new to black Irish people

Ebun Joseph: Bertie Ahern's anti-immigrant comments are nothing new to black Irish people

If feels like Ireland is drifting back towards the political atmosphere of the early 2000s with its draconian immigration policies, writes Ebun Joseph, Ireland’s special rapporteur on racial equality and racism

Tue, 19 May, 2026

Boy with Black Hoodie in Front of White wall

Colman Noctor: Our casual discrimination against teens has real consequences

Many of us unwittingly discriminate against teenagers, regarding them as immature, antisocial, or unreliable, and this can have a profound impact on how they view themselves and their place in the world

Tue, 19 May, 2026

AI prompt chat bot. Search website to generate data, text or image. Man using computer with artificial intelligence app. Virtual

'It is truly harmful': Children's advocates 'gravely concerned' over lack of regulation of AI

Children's Rights Alliance online safety coordinator Noeline Blackwell will tell Dáil committee deepfake images can be used to 'blackmail, bully, groom, threaten and abuse children and young people'

Tue, 19 May, 2026

General Election Ireland 2024

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch is no 'Robin Hood of the Oireachtas'

Gerry Hutch is a veteran criminal suspected of involvement in two of the biggest armed robberies in the State, writes Mick Clifford

Mon, 18 May, 2026

Graham Linehan court case

Graham Linehan thanks Free Speech Union after police apology over arrest

The Irish comedy writer was arrested by the Met Police at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence over three posts he had made on X

Mon, 18 May, 2026

Suzanne Harrington: Things are bad when Miranda Priestly is the good guy

Suzanne Harrington: Things are bad when Miranda Priestly is the good guy

Monolithic power accrued by unaccountable, unimaginable wealth means we are living in the age of the techno tyrant, says Suzanne Harrington

Mon, 18 May, 2026

Barry Keoghan

Terry Prone: Barry Keoghan should take a leaf out of Enya's book when it comes to silence

The definitive personification of successful shutting up is Enya, who never talks to anybody, never posts anything, and never goes on chat shows

Mon, 18 May, 2026

Girl using her smart phone sitting on couch

Irish Examiner view: Legal complexity cannot mean inaction

Social media may not poison lungs or livers, but mounting evidence suggests it can profoundly affect mental health, self-esteem, and emotional development

Fri, 15 May, 2026

RTÉ hit by major internet outage

No cause for the outage has yet been identified

Thu, 14 May, 2026

Four Courts Dublin

Sisters seek removal from air and social media of documentary which includes body of brother

Documentary series First Timers on the Frontline included footage of man's body, which was later shown on Virgin Media TV, court heard

Thu, 14 May, 2026

Deepfake concerns

Mary McGill: Laws on AI sexual abuse images are too late for many victims

Regulations are coming too late for the many people already harmed by AI sexual abuse technology, but a proactive approach could prevent future damage, writes Mary McGill

Thu, 14 May, 2026