Dáil debates

Thursday, 10 April 2025

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

3:50 am

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I agree there is a role for everybody in this. Parents are playing their part. Schools are playing their part. I know incredible teachers who are doing everything they can to address this issue. We need the Government to play its part.

I acknowledge the work the Minister did on Coco's Law. She spoke about making sure it is illegal to share graphic or toxic content. We are allowing the social media companies not only to share that content but also to promote it. Not only are they promoting it, they are making billions from feeding this to our children and creating this really toxic environment in which our children are growing up. No matter what we do as parents or what the schools do, if children are continually seeing this content for hours every day, it will seep into them. We need to stop this at the social media level.

We need to make sure that the content providers are held accountable for it and they need to turn off the algorithm. Does the Minister agree that those algorithms need to be switched off?

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