TDs vote against Govt and raise digital age of consent

The digital age of consent has been raised to 16.

TDs vote against Govt and raise digital age of consent

The Government has been defeated over its proposal for the digital age of consent to remain at 13.

TDs instead voted in favour of a Fianna Fáil and Labour amendment to set the age at 16, which was passed by 56 votes to 51.

The digital age of consent refers to the age at which a child can consent to use online services.

Children's right groups had previously called plans to raise the age of consent "very concerning".

A number of commentators criticised the Dáil vote, claiming TDs had ignored the stance of many experts and young people.

John Buckley, a Child Safety Investigator at Facebook, suggested a change to 16 would see a "huge increase" in young people lying about their age to access digital services.

Fianna Fáil TD and education spokesperson Thomas Byrne defended the decision.

Speaking earlier this week, Mary Cunningham - director of the National Youth Council of Ireland - argued: "Education and a focus on developing critical thinking will be far more useful tools for young people, and the adults in their lives, than an increased digital age of consent which risks providing a false sense of security.

“There is so much more that can and should be done to help protect young people online. We need to focus our energies here rather than letting ourselves get distracted by the current debates around age limits."

While the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - which comes into effect this month - sets a digital age of consent at 16 years, member states have the option of setting their own age limit at no lower than 13 years.

- Digital Desk

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