Measures to keep young children from accessing online platforms failing, says CyberSafeKids

Measures to keep young children from accessing online platforms are failing to live up to expectations, a new report has found, with little impact on the number of underage children signing up for accounts. The CyberSafeKids 10th annual report, The Year Little Changed, also found there was a rise in exposure to sexual content among 12 to 15-year-olds.It found 70 per cent of children aged eight to 12 years old have accounts on social media apps that are designated for children aged 13 and older, a figure that is almost unchanged from the level recorded in July 2025.[ Plan to set 13 as EU-wide minimum age for social media access to be discussedOpens in new window ]Sixty-three per cent use YouTube, up slightly from last year’s figure, while Snapchat and TikTok accounted for 21 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.READ MOREThis is despite new legal requirements designed to keep underage users off platforms, which CyberSafeKids said suggested age assurance measures are not functioning as intended on the platforms they use most. Platforms use various methods to detect underage users, even among those who have given an incorrect age at sign-up to access the service, such as behavioural or content analysis and user reports. But with account creation on YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram still relying solely on self-declaration of age, children can still avoid triggering parental oversight features. Among the children in the eight-to-12-year age group, 94 per cent have their own smart device, with tablets the most popular in this age group. More than half said they spend most of their time online gaming, with Roblox the top app. However, 26 per cent of children said they had been bothered by something they had seen or experienced online, with more than half saying this had occurred on Roblox. France bans phones in high schools Video: Naomi O'Leary Editor: Eoin Ronayne By the time children are aged 12 to 15, the most popular device switched to smartphones, with messaging app WhatsApp the most popular in this age group at 85 per cent. Sixty-seven per cent said they played Roblox. A quarter of children in this age group said they had seen something online that bothered them, with 48 per cent saying this happened on Snapchat. The most common material reported was scams and fake information, with hate content following in second. Older children were more likely to keep these interactions to themselves, while 29 per cent said they reported it online. Fifteen per cent of those who were bothered by online content said they had seen or been asked for nudity or sexual things. That rose to 20 per cent in the older age category, while 24 per cent said they had accessed sexual content this year, up from 10 per cent last year. Most concerning was that 22 per cent said the material was pushed to them and was not sought out.Artificial intelligence (AI) use has also increased significantly among children. More than half of children under 12 said they used the technology regularly, with 59 per cent using it to look up information and 47 per cent asking it fun questions. Among older children, 76 per cent said they use it, with three-quarters using it to look up information. Despite this increase in use, children say no one is talking to them about AI use, with only 50 per cent of eight- to 12-year-olds and 55 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds having conversations about the technology. “After a raft of new legislation in Ireland and at EU level in 2025, we had real expectations of change, but this report shows those expectations haven’t been met,” said CyberSafeKids chief executive Alex Cooney.“We flagged concerns last year about children’s access to AI chatbots and the absence of regulation for this powerful new technology. A year on, little has changed on regulation, while children’s access has grown exponentially, without safeguards or protections.“After 10 years of reporting on children’s online experiences, this year’s data shows little positive impact from regulation. The intense debate over banning under-16s from social media is missing the point. We’re arguing over whether to lock the door while the laws already meant to protect children inside go unenforced. We have to do better.”The report makes a number of recommendations, including the implementation of the State’s online health taskforce recommendations, setting the default minimum age for digital products intended for use by children to 16 and the blocking of minors’ access to pornography in the Republic. It also wants to see agreement between the European Parliament and Council on an EU-wide ban on marketing and using AI systems to create non-consensual intimate images, and the funding of initiatives to support parents and caregivers.