Debate contribution: Social Media: Children and Young People

Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on 10 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Robbie Butler

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

10 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Social Media: Children and Young People

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5435946

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Madam Principal Deputy Speaker, I forgot about the three-minute rule, so I will read through this quickly. Pin your ears back. At the outset, it is worth acknowledging an uncomfortable truth for us in the Chamber. Many of us, if we were to log into our own daily screen time and honestly reflect on that, would see that there is a degree of hypocrisy when we talk today about children and social media use. Maybe we are bringing a bit of our own wisdom to it. Digital technology brings real benefits, including connection, creativity and learning, and it would be disingenuous for any of us to deny that. However, recognising value does not absolve us from responsibility, particularly when the evidence of harm is now so abundantly clear. The debate must be grounded in one guiding principle, and that is the best interests of the child. That is not a slogan but a legal, moral and human obligation rooted in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Children have the right to protection, to healthy development, to dignity and to be heard. When those rights come into conflict with the business models of multinational tech platforms, it should not be the children who lose. The evidence before us is no longer anecdotal, nor is it isolated. We see clear links between social media use and harm, whether that is to mental health, to emotional well-being or to development, particularly among younger users. Children are being exposed to content that is wholly inappropriate and that, in any other context, would be considered to be wholly unacceptable. They are being exposed, sadly, to pornography, self-harm material, bullying and misogynistic abuse, and the algorithms do not merely host the content but actively promote it. Crucially, children and young people themselves tell us that things are not working. Young people across Northern Ireland have called for greater protections online, for clearer boundaries and for adults to take responsibility, but that advocacy means more than listening, because we are meant to protect those young people and to speak clearly about the harms that are posed. At the same time, we must be honest about the complexity. An outright ban used prematurely or in isolation risks unintended consequences. I need not remind many people in the Chamber about the ban on alcohol for under-18s and on smoking for under-16s. Those did not work particularly well because, while they may have been morally right, their application was not good. We also know about the proliferation of virtual private networks, which have seen a 1,800% rise in their use. Unfortunately, a lot of that stuff can be driven underground because age-based restrictions, if introduced, cannot stand alone. They must be part of a holistic response. In Northern Ireland, we are, for once, probably in a slightly better position than some of the other regions. We have the Safer Schools NI app, which is already in around 85% of schools in Northern Ireland, but what is missing from that is parental awareness of the use of that app.

512 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:52 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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