Giving smartphones to children as young as seven 'a scandal', Cork conference hears

Giving a smartphone to a child is 'sacrificing them on the altar of profiteering and consumerism'.

Giving young children smartphones is "an abdication of responsibility by parents" that sees youngsters "being sacrificed on the altar of profiteering and consumerism", one of the country's leading exploitation and grooming experts has said.

Chief executive of the Irish Internet Hotline Mick Moran said children as young as seven in Ireland had smartphones, which he said was a “scandal”.

The former garda, who has worked abroad on behalf of Interpol in relation to child exploitation, said giving children smartphones at a young age was leaving them open to being targeted online by predators.

“How do you think the offenders are contacting these kids?” he said at a conference in Cork on the use of technology in human trafficking.

“Once you give a smartphone to your child, you change the child’s development vector, their path to development. I can 100% assure you that you are not changing it for the good. You are 100% sacrificing them on the altar of profiteering and consumerism.” 

He said smartphones were set up to “addict your child and to addict all of us”.

Mr Moran claimed everyone had “sold our autonomy, especially our digital autonomy, to these companies, whose only interest is profit”.

Referring to concerns children in Ireland’s care system are being sexually and criminally exploited, he questioned whether Ireland had learned any lessons from the UK experience of vulnerable children in care being exploited by offenders.

Alex Cooney, chief executive of CyberSafeKids, told the Irish Examiner there needed to be “broader recognition” of the dangers posed to children through the ownership of smartphones.

She added: “I think we need better social norms of when children are first getting them.” 

But she said there needed to be an onus on the “companies that provide these online environments to ensure that they are safe and appropriate for children".

“Why is it that every other industry making products for children are subject to serious standards and compliance checks before they get on the market? These are the one product that gets into the hands of children, with companies getting access to kids and their data. 

They are making money off children, they are making money off of advertising to children, and from gathering their data and from selling it on.

Ms Cooney commended “hold off” movements such as the It Takes a Village campaign in Wicklow, which is a wellbeing and digital safety community initiative for children with a no smartphone policy.

But Ms Cooney said it was not easy for all parents.

"We will hear from parents every so often that they are not hearing of other parents around them who are deciding to hold off, so that makes it so much harder. I think there is too much onus on parents to be the arbitrators here, and what we really need is safe and appropriate products for our children. 

"They are growing up in a digital age; we need to be realistic about it, but the situation we are in now is completely unacceptable. The business model that is prevailing, the access these companies have to children — that’s the bit I feel I most strongly about.” 

She referenced the issuing of a report in June from a special panel set up by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to develop a “strong and practical European approach” to keep children safe online.

“Now we are waiting to hear what the European Commission is going to announce on the back of it and that will probably be in September,” she said.

It comes after France’s high commissioner for children, Sarah El Haïry, said in recent days Ireland must use its term as president of the EU to move on a European-wide social media ban for teenagers before the end of this year.