THE TÁNAISTE HAS said that most parents support banning social media for children under a certain age.

Simon Harris was responding to a poll by Ipsos in The Irish Times today, which showed that three-quarters of those surveyed were in favour of the restriction.

Meanwhile, 90% were in favour of banning social media platforms that have broken the law by circulating illegal images.

“We’re now clearly hearing from the parents of Ireland that they want action when it comes to children on social media,” Harris said, speaking to reporters in Galway today.

“We need to take action to keep our children safe. And that action cannot be outsourced to private tech companies.”

Harris argued that there are many activities with age restrictions, such as drinking alcohol, smoking, and driving a car.

 Social media, I think, needs to be part of that,” he said.

“The north star has to be where children, teenagers below a certain age should not be on social media.”

Harris ackowledged that enforcing age restrictions will require platforms having proper age verification systems, which he said the government is working to build.

He added that education – for schools, parents, and children – will be key in making the transition.

It is not yet clear what ages would no longer be able to use social media platforms, but in Australia under-16s have been banned. However, the legislation has had mixed results, with some children saying they were still able to access platforms quite easily through cheating the technology. Other young people have embraced the change.

Harris said other European leaders are considering similar social media restrictions.