Richard Hogan: For too long, social media operated outside the law, and our children have suffered

I have felt incredible frustration watching this unfold. It has felt like a bizzarro world. 

Have I lost my mind or is it that these companies are free to mine the data of our underage children, and sell their information for profit and send them dangerous and damaging material through their recommender systems with impunity? Bizarro.

I have sat with thousands of families in my clinic, and witnessed the devastation social media has brought in to the lives of decent families.

I have worked with troubling cases: Blackmail, grooming, sexting, and bullying, and, as a consequence, suicidal ideation and disordered eating, I really could go on and on.

Over the years, people have accused me of sensationalising the damage caused by smartphones and video-sharing platforms. They say that I’m motivated by some puritanical desire for a simpler time and they say that smartphones are a positive thing. 

Smartphones can, of course, be positive in the hand of a person that is of an appropriate age and maturity.

But for too long now, parents have been placing endless internet access in the hands of their children and it has brought untold problems into their child’s life.

Hardcore extreme material is only ever one click away. We need robust legislation to protect children and to end the era of self-regulation of ‘big tech’. That seems like a no-brainer to me. Childhood innocence is such a valuable thing: Once it is gone, it is gone for ever.

The new online digital-media code, which was released last week, signals the end of that era and the beginning of a new one. At last we might be leaving the bizarro world behind. 

Last month, I was invited to meet both Coimisiún na Meán and Minister for Education Norma Foley, to discuss the impact technology is having on the lives of our children and how we can better protect them. 

I realise it is much easier to criticise from the sidelines and I’m not a legislator or a politician.

But some things just seem obvious and need to be corrected as a matter of urgency. I have worked with countless families in distress because of an image shared online. 

That image might not be illegal, but the harm it is doing to the child, while it is circulating online, can be life threatening.

Social-media platforms, when challenged, often say, ‘It is not against our standards and, therefore, we will not take it down’. Meanwhile, a child suffers. 

But, thankfully, with the new code they have taken into account the content and the context of the image and what type of discussion it is provoking online. This is a hugely significant change and a very positive one. Spot it, flag it, stop it.

However, the code does not go far enough, because it is not prescriptive in its threshold for taking down material. And while it remains vague these companies can act at their own pace. This is not good enough.

‘Big tech’ is at pains to tell us that they have enough regulators monitoring the content they share on their platforms. 

But when they are told they have to take down problematic content within 48 hours of it being reported, they say, ‘That’s not possible’. 

It is only impossible if you don’t value the safety of children and don’t put enough resources into providing a safe platform for children to use.

The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. Big tech hasn’t cared so far, so Coimisiún na Meán’s hope that they will play ball doesn’t seem likely to me.

I met Norma Foley last week. The minister is trying to launch the initiative ‘Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free’. Again, that’s a positive and laudable initiative. 

We spoke at length about the impact technology is having on the lives of children and how education is the key to safer online activity.

Ms Foley said that they are attempting to work with ‘big tech’ and if that proves to be ineffective, she will not hesitate to bring in stronger legislation to protect children. So, it seems, things are changing. Of course, they will never change as quickly as I would like.

But it is important that we keep the pressure on government and the media regulator. They must hear our concerns and our lived experience of devices in our children’s life.

Technology is here to stay. We need a systemic shift.

For too long these companies have operated outside the law, and our children have suffered. We need a multifaceted approach to this issue. 

There is no panacea. We need improved digital literacy in schools, and we need parents to be upskilled and more tech savvy.

We must delay the arrival of smartphones in our child’s life, we need stronger legislation to force ‘big tech’ to be more responsible, and we need them to think about our children as a future resource, and not as current revenue.

If ‘big tech’ could show that they had not received a complaint about their platform for 200 days, we would have changed how they think about the service they provide.

Parents would be happier that their child is on a platform that promotes healthy behaviours and is concerned about the content it shares. Imagine that!

Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I know I’m not the only one.