An Oireachtas committee has heard of grave concerns over the exposure of children to deepfakes online and over "ideologues" who are obstructing protections.
It also heard that one in five children in Western Europe has been solicited or groomed online, according to a new report.
Noeline Blackwell, Online Safety Co-ordinator, Children's Rights Alliance, told the Committee on Artificial Intelligence that she is "gravely concerned about the current lack of regulation or provision of safeguards for children in the rapidly technology of generative AI fights at EU level".
"Deep fakes pose greater risk for children than for adults, because children's evolving capacities and development mean that they have more difficulty identifying details," she said.
She cautioned that "ideologues" are creating a false choice between children's rights and the right to privacy, and stated that respecting both is possible.
One in five children solicited online
A new report by Missing Children Europe has revealed that one in five children in Western Europe had been solicited by the time they turned 18, she told the committee.
Missing Children Europe is the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children, acting as a central network connecting 31 grassroots organisations across 26 European nations.
Ms Blackwell also expressed concern over a proposal by the European Commission to streamline the EU AI Act.
The commission has said it "is proposing targeted simplification measures to ensure timely, smooth, and proportionate implementation of certain of the AI Act's provisions".
"While undoubtedly there can be merit in streamlining regulation, the current reforms mean that - at best - whatever limited safety net might be put in place in relation to images and deep fakes is further delayed," Ms Blackwell warned.
"Regulation of high-risk AI applications, which should have come into law this year, will not now be in place until the end of 2027 at the earliest."
She added that "children's rights and their usage of technology were not and are not properly considered in the EU legislation".
Olga Cronin, Senior Policy Officer, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, pointed to the ability of the Grok AI tool to generate sexualised deepfake images of adults and children as an example of how rapidly such content can spread.
