TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS has said that the government will “have a look” at banning social media use for under-16s, pointing to moves in the UK and France, despite the government currently pursuing an age-verification model rather than an outright ban. “We have a digital age of consent. “I think we’re going to need to look at what they’re doing in the UK, look at what they’re doing in France, and simply say, in this country, there should be a ban on using social media under the age of 16,” he said. His comments come as the government is preparing to pilot an age-verification system, often described as a “digital wallet”, aimed at enforcing the existing digital age of consent. “The problem isn’t social media per se,” Murphy said last week.