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Groups Say 13 Should Remain The Digital Age Of Consent

SPIN 1038
SPIN 1038

11:53 2 May 2018


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The internet will be a more dangerous place for children if the digital age of consent is raised to 16, according to the head of Spunout.ie.

Ireland’s youth information website, along with the Children’s Rights Alliance and the ISPCC, are calling for the age to stay at 13.

It’s after opposition parties tabled amendments to the Data Protection Bill to increase it to 16.

They believe doing so would give children more protection.

But head of Spunout.ie, Ian Power doesn't agree "It's leaving industry off the hook, rather than a situation whereby industry has to make sure that their platforms are safer for 13 to 16 year olds - and making sure we can target them with educational and safety tools."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Taking part in an important press conference shortly to highlight <a href="https://twitter.com/SpunOut?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpunOut</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ChildRightsIRL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChildRightsIRL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ISPCCChildline?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ISPCCChildline</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/CyberSafeIE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CyberSafeIE</a> concern at proposals to increase age of consent for digital from 13 to 16 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/13to16?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#13to16</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnlineSafety?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnlineSafety</a></p>&mdash; Ian Power (@powerian) <a href="https://twitter.com/powerian/status/991618236339970048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The groups are calling on government leaders to play their part in keeping children safe online:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All TDs still have the opportunity to come together to better protect children online. Amendments changing the age of digital consent should not be accepted. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/13not16?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#13not16</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaferOnline?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaferOnline</a> <a href="https://t.co/cem0SJu7JV">https://t.co/cem0SJu7JV</a></p>&mdash; ISPCC Childline (@ISPCCChildline) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISPCCChildline/status/991626471176318976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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