DUBLIN, Ireland: Social media companies could soon be required to disable "addictive" algorithm-driven feeds for children, under a new bill backed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), which is urging all political parties to support the measure.

The bill, introduced by People Before Profit, seeks to restrict the use of recommender algorithms for minors and place tighter controls on profiling-based algorithms for adults. If passed, platforms would have to automatically switch off content recommendation systems for children, while adults would need to actively opt in to any algorithm that uses personal or sensitive data.

The push comes amid growing concern over the psychological impact of algorithmically generated content. A study last year from Dublin City University's Anti-Bullying Centre found that recommender systems on platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts were feeding male-identified accounts extreme, misogynistic, and anti-feminist content—within 23 minutes of use, regardless of user behaviour.

Dr Johnny Ryan, senior fellow at ICCL, told Newstalk Breakfast that these platforms are knowingly deploying systems that exploit children's behaviours to keep them glued to their screens. "These systems are dangerous," he said. "Meta, YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok—you name it. Each of them analyses how a child responds to every post and then uses that to push more addictive content."

He warned that this often results in a toxic stream of content promoting self-loathing, self-harm, and even suicide. "For adults, it delivers the perfect drop of poison into each person's ear," he added.

Dr Ryan cited internal studies from Meta, revealed by whistleblowers, which showed that 64 percent of users who joined extremist groups on Facebook did so because of its recommendation tools.

Despite limited government action, public support for regulation appears strong. A 2023 poll conducted with advocacy group Uplift found 82 percent of the Irish public backed a rule requiring these algorithms to be switched off by default.

"It's all about engagement," Ryan said. "The longer you spend staring at your screen, the more ads can be sold—and that's the business model."

While the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) theoretically limits the use of personalised data in algorithmic feeds, Ryan argued enforcement remains weak. With Donald Trump now back in office, he warned that Europe must act swiftly.

"Europe faces the likelihood of an intentional algorithmic assault to boost authoritarians into power," Ryan said. "We have let Trump hold the hidden levers of Europe's political debate. That has to change."