Tighten social media controls - cllr

A local councillor has warned of the “dark side” to social media, highlighting how the ability for someone to remain anonymous or take on a false digital identity “opens up opportunities for hate crime, fraud, cyberbullying and fake news”.

Fianna Fáil’s Áine Smith also believes: “The anonymity of social platforms protects criminals and stalkers.” She’s calling on the government to introduce tighter controls on access to such sites for children and early teens.

“Social media is deeply entrenched in our lives,” accepted Cllr Smith, in raising the discussion at the recent April monthly meeting of Cavan County Council.

However, she said: “Unknowingly, social platforms have given a voice to scammers, spammers, trolls and a long list of profiles with dubious moral intentions.”

As people increasingly use online platforms for everything from entertainment to shopping, the threat of fraud has risen accordingly.

“Verification ensures that users are who they claim to be. When we encounter a verified account, we can trust that it genuinely represents the individual or organisation it claims to be. False information spreads like wildfire on social media. Verified accounts can help curb the dissemination of misinformation by providing a reliable source.”

She went on to state that online platforms “not only need to safeguard” a user’s information but also assure them that, those they are interacting with, are who they claim to be.

“This makes it crucial for social media platforms to properly verify the identities of the individuals, businesses, brands and content creators using their sites.”

Linking social media accounts with some form of real world identification, Cllr Smith believes, would keep users “accountable for what they post”.

In the case of persons under the age of 18 years, accounts should be verified with the ID of a parent/guardian, Cllr Smith says, in order to prevent “anonymised harmful activity”, and to provide “traceability” if an offence does occur.

She would like to see “real-word, legal consequences” for those engaging in virtual fraud.

Cllr Smith went on to tell her fellow elected members that some social media platforms incorporate “features harmful to children”, or “algorithms that draw them to content that create issues such as depression and anorexia and increased rates of hospital admission for self-harm”.

To tackle this she looks to Florida in the US, where it’s now illegal for children under 16 to open social media accounts, with exceptions for 14 and 15-year-olds who can open subscriptions with expressed parental permission. “I believe it would be transformative for the younger generation. Millions of teenagers turn to the internet as their primary form of social interaction and communication, often spending more than five hours a day on social media. Much of this time is unmonitored.”

Many of these perceived “problems”, Cllr Smith claimed in conclusion, trace back to the “root design of big tech platforms”.

“Its products are designed to addict and exploit our children and their brain’s vulnerabilities. They want their users to be addicted. They are not looking out for the user’s well-being. Rather, they prey on human vulnerabilities, especially those of children, in order to maximise their profits. Children’s attention spans and ability to focus for longer periods of time are declining. Even the best private parental control software can’t give parents access to everything,” continued the school teacher by profession.

“Enough is enough,” said Cllr Smith, calling on the Minister for Tourism, Arts, Gaeltacht and Media and also the Minister for Children to introduce new legislation. “We need to act now to safeguard our children. I believe that verification mechanisms can protect our children while respecting privacy rights.”

Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald supported the motion, saying it was too easy for people to go online and make “accusations” about another person with little or no recourse.

Cllr Smith’s party colleague, Patricia Walsh, also backed the motion, fearing that young people are losing the ability to communicate by means other than through technology.

There was support too from Independent Brendan Smith, and from Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly who stated that social media has become part of the “times we live in. We can try to make the changes we want but will it be enough?”

He said that education is key to engaging young people about safe social media use, rather than depriving them from access.

There was support too for the motion from Cathaoirleach Philip Brady (FF), and Cllrs Peter McVitty (FG), Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly and Aidan Fitzpatrick (FF).

National Broadband Plan

Cllr Smith opened by acknowledging the irony of calling for restrictions on social media access in one motion, and switching to talk of the need to quicken the implementation of the National Broadband Plan locally.

Yet she said that fast internet access had become “essential” for homes, farms, schools, businesses, as well as community and voluntary organisations. “A lot of day to day activity depends on the use of the internet and so access to the internet is essential. Unfortunately there are still too many areas lacking up to date broadband infrastructure.”

While she acknowledged the progress made to date, she said there are areas, waiting years, but still without.

“No area or community should be disadvantaged by the lack of this modern infrastructure,” she told the council meeting; while calling for the Minister for Communications to ask all the telecom providers to speed up the rollout.

“We have seen since 2020 and the COVID pandemic the massive growth in the number of people working from home, either in a part-time for full-time basis. They need the most modern internet access and modern broadband.”

Cllr O’Reilly (FG) said fast broadband had become a “vital artery” in connecting rural Ireland to the outside world. But he said on the staged process: “Not everyone can be first, and no one wants to be last.”

Cllr O’Reilly added that the NBP is reaching its conclusion: “We have come a long way to where we are now.”

Winston Bennett (FG) agreed. He said both a labour shortage and the impact of Covid had held matters up.