EU Commissioner Michael McGrath has said he is in favour of examining a potential "common EU-wide approach" to when teenagers and young people can access social media, in response to growing concerns about the use of online platforms.
Speaking to RTÉ's European Parliament Report programme, Mr McGrath, who is the EU's Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, acknowledged a number of member states are considering introducing their own new minimum age social media laws.
Mr McGrath said every individual member state has the right to decide on what action, if any, they take in relation to their own domestic laws on the matter.
However, he said he believes a "common EU-wide approach" may be a more effective way to address the online safety situation, saying the measure is something he would be in favour of considering.
"We have seen a number of initiatives at member state level being announced about setting a new minimum age for children to be on social media.
"That is the right of member states, they can set a new digital majority age in their member state," he said.
"[But] I do think that in so far as possible the objective here should be to have a common EU-wide approach because I think would be much more effective," he added.
Responding to Mr McGrath's comments, Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said "everything should be on the table".
He said this is because "the damage these social media platforms are having on young people is untold when you think about what is happening after the pandemic has been compounded by a lot of the bile online".
Mr Ó Ríordáin said a debate is currently taking place in Ireland over "banning it for under 16s", following a similar move in Australia, and that he would personally be in favour of a "curtailment" of "certain social media sites across the EU, including X".
However, he added that "the Australian experience sounded good, but we are just not sure how effective it was, so whatever we do we have to make sure it works".
Sinn Féin MEP Kathleen Funchion said "as a parent your instinct is to say 'ban', but I'm not sure if that really is the right approach and response."
"I definitely think, with social media, we need to see far more regulation and far more accountability and actual action taken," she added.
Asked about the potential future move, Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Cowen said, "We're a generation which is anxious to protect younger generations growing up with this available to them, and we can recognise certain aspects and fears and concerns that they wouldn't necessarily."
"So I'm glad to hear him [Michael McGrath] saying he is anxious to bring forward EU-wide proposals, which would be much stronger than individual nations on their own," he said.
