THE IRISH MEDICAL Organisation (IMO) has called for urgent action to tackle harm faced by young people as a result of social media. 

The organisation has said that change is needed in how Irish authorities respond to the “clear threat to the mental health of young people” coming from social media platforms. 

The IMO is calling for a ban on smartphone use by pupils within primary schools, and a well-funded public health strategy to combat social media addiction, use and harm.

It wants the Attorney General and Department of Justice to investigate the possibility of taking legal action against technology company Meta, based on “their products’ detrimental effect upon youth mental health.”

Meta is the American company that owns and operates social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and new platform Threads.

The calls follow a move by US health authorities for warning labels to be put on social media platforms warning of the negative effect they have on mental health.

Chairman of the Consultant Committee of the IMO, Professor Matthew Sadlier, today said that social media companies “need to prove safety before launching new projects and innovations rather than government’s retrospectively looking for harm”.

“The evidence is mounting that these platforms pose a real threat to the mental health of young users,” he said. 

Our children will only have one childhood and we need to ensure that it is a safe one.”

“There is an urgent need now to move at pace to protect users from the dangerous, harmful and addictive practices which the owners of these platforms deploy against their users in order to boost their bottom line,” Sadlier said.

In May, an updated draft of Coimisiún na Meán’s Online Safety Code was criticised for not addressing “toxic” algorithms

Coimisiún na Meán is Ireland’s online and broadcast media regulator. It has submitted the Code to the European Commission and once the process is complete, it will be applied later this year.

The final Code will be part of Coimisiún na Meán’s overall Online Safety Framework, which aims to make digital services legally accountable for how they protect people, especially children, from harm online.

The code will introduce obligations on video-sharing platforms that prohibit uploading or sharing harmful content, including cyberbullying.