Fine Gael Nina Carberry has criticised Facebook for failing to commit to extending its new US child-safety measures across Ireland and the EU.
Facebook’s decision was announced during a meeting held in Brussels this week.
The meeting comes as a major two-day online safety conference begins in Dublin today as part of Ireland’s EU Presidency programme.
Carberry, a member of Parliament’s Intergroup on Children’s Rights, said “I don’t find it acceptable that Facebook, after committing to introducing a suite of safety measures for American teenagers following its $17 billion settlement only two weeks ago, still refuses to commit to doing the same in the EU.”
“The US measures are to be welcomed – default daily limits, restrictions on night access and stronger parental controls are some of what we want to see,” she said.
The Fine Gael MEP said, “clearly, voluntary action alone is not enough.”
“We need the European Commission, as the regulator, to now swiftly conclude its open investigations into Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat. Heftier financial fines look like the only way forward.”
Attention now turns to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address in Strasbourg next week (16th September), where she is expected to unveil further measures to protect children online.
Carberry says the speech must address the “fragmented” approach the EU has so far taken to online safety and implement recent expert recommendations on age assurance, algorithms and addictive design.
“If platforms are unwilling to act voluntarily, the Commission will need to hand down tougher penalties and significantly faster enforcement of its decisions”, Carberry warned.