Dublin: Ireland's media regulator has launched an investigation into the US-based social media platform X to assess its compliance with age verification and child protection measures, as reported by broadcaster RTE. This marks the first formal probe under Ireland's Online Safety Code, which was implemented in July 2025.
According to Anadolu Agency, the media regulator's platform supervision team has expressed concerns regarding whether Elon Musk's company has sufficiently implemented the age assurance measures mandated by the new legislation. The law requires X to ensure that children are shielded from encountering videos that depict pornography, extreme violence, or acts of cruelty.
The investigation is also scrutinizing X's parental controls, assessing their effectiveness, accessibility, and visibility to users upon signing up. The regulator stated concerns that X's parental controls may not meet minimum requirements, are difficult to locate, and are not highlighted to new users during the sign-up process, as stipulated by the Code.
X could potentially face a fine of up to 10% of its relevant annual turnover, or £20 million ($23.4 million), whichever amount is greater, should it be found in violation of the Online Safety Code. John Evans, Digital Services commissioner at the regulator, emphasized that platforms allowing children access to adult-only content must implement robust age assurance measures.
Evans underscored that self-declaration-based age verification measures are inadequate. He further stated that platforms permitting users under 16 must offer effective and easily locatable parental controls, ensuring these features are brought to users' attention during account creation.
The media regulator has initiated five other investigations over the past year into platforms based in Ireland under the auspices of the EU Digital Services Act. Additionally, the regulator is involved in four joint investigations initiated by the European Commission.
In July 2025, X announced the introduction of new age assurance measures to align with regulations in Ireland, the UK, and the EU. The company indicated that these measures would involve leveraging existing signals, such as prior age verification, legacy verified accounts, and account creation dates, to estimate user ages. Furthermore, X stated that users could verify their age by providing a live selfie or a government-issued ID.