‘Stricter regulations’ needed when signing up online, Stormont told

Though social media sites are used by millions worldwide, they can be lonely places to navigate, according to 15-year-old Darragh from Downpatrick.

He and other young people from across Northern Ireland have come together to call for more support and protection online.

They also took their message to Northern Ireland Assembly members (MLAs) at Stormont by taking part in a unique Cyber Cafe.

The young people were brought together by NSPCC Northern Ireland and the Children in Northern Ireland organisation.

Darragh said that when social media companies are developing policies affecting young people online, young people should be involved.

He has been meeting other teenagers from Limavady, Portadown, Belfast and Dungannon to talk about what they want.

Similar worries kept cropping up among the youth groups.

Maria, 15, from Portadown, could not understand why it is so easy for someone to create a fake profile online where they can post material or make comments under a false identity.

She told BBC News NI that she thought “stricter regulations” should be in place when signing up so that someone cannot make a fake profile.

“It’s so easy to make a fake profile and fake that you’re another person online, this could be so dangerous for people,” she added.

“You might be being friends with a really old man when you think you’re being friends with someone your own age.”

For Darragh, cyberbullying and online abuse are big concerns.

“There’s a lot of issues such as groomers online or inappropriate content that young people shouldn’t be seeing, or just people being bullied online,” he said.

“Online bullying’s a major problem.”

He also said anonymous or fake accounts are too easy for people to create.

“Anyone could start talking to you, try to get in touch with you, can pretend to be anyone, just hiding behind a screen,” he said.

“If you’re in real life you can see who you’re talking to but on a screen anyone can be anyone.”

For 17-year-old Eimear from Moy in County Tyrone, the social media giants do not think enough about support for the young people using their products.

“I think one of the things that would make a difference is for young people to actually have support on the apps,” she said.

“If they have advice on the apps they might feel a bit more confident, as well as knowing who to report and how to block.”

She said that online bullying or abuse was “one of the biggest issues” young people face on the internet.

“It can happen to anyone.”

According to Phyllis Stephenson from NSPCC Northern Ireland, yes they do.

She said that message had come through strongly from all the teenage participants in the Cyber Cafe.

“That’s one of their key messages to parents,” she said.

“Engage with us about the things that we’re doing online, so that we can and feel that we’re able to talk to you if something goes wrong.

“They were absolutely saying that parents have a key role in keeping them safe online.”

Definitely, according to Eimear, who said that online safety lessons were currently dependent on what school you went to.

Her school taught online safety, but some schools her friends went to did not.

“Because it’s not really in the curriculum, it means young people are going out there and not knowing what could happen to them,” she said.

“It should be something that’s taught from Year Eight to at least Year 10, because they might not do it in GCSE.”

She said that mobile phone restrictions in schools could help, but that social media use and online harms went far beyond school.

“It would be more so outside of school, because you’re spending most time at home,” she said.