• IMO’s Matthew Sadlier to speak at event hosted by representative group of over 1 million European doctors in Dublin today
• Social media and digital apps facilitate a range of harmful behaviour such as grooming, exploitation, problem gambling and other addictive behaviour
• Imperative that the Irish government uses its upcoming EU presidency to protect young people and tighten regulation of the online world

Friday March 20, 2026. A representative group of over one million European doctors will today hear that vulnerable young people are at serious risk of harm on social media apps.

The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) is hosting a meeting in Dublin today (see editors’ note for further information on the event).

At the event, Prof Matthew Sadlier, Vice-President and Chair of the Consultants’ Committee of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), will warn that the mix of certain features of social media apps, algorithmically driven content and the ubiquity of smartphones had created a “truly toxic online landscape”.

Speaking before the event, he said that social media apps such as Snapchat and Roblox offered easy access to unconnected users including children, and noted that several people in Ireland and the UK had been convicted for child abuse directly related to their activity on Snapchat in particular.

He said that it was imperative that the Irish government used its upcoming EU presidency to educate people on the risks young people are exposed to online and work to tighten regulation of the online world.

“We are living in an age of almost non-existent social media regulation, which has created a truly toxic online landscape. Not only can children and adults alike access at will the most malevolent and dangerous content, but certain social media apps by their design reward that behaviour by directing users towards ever more extreme content.

“It is ironic that, having been marketed as useful, positive platforms to stay connected with friends and family, social media apps are exposing young people to a wide range of harms including addictive algorithms, sexual violence and gambling.”

He said that it was bizarre that, having worked so hard as a society to strengthen and maintain children’s safety offline, we have not yet done the same in the online world.

 

He referenced the case of a sex offender in Cork who sent a sexual message on Snapchat to a schoolgirl just hours after his release from prison and who himself described the app as a “safe haven for paedophiles”.

 

Prof Sadlier concluded: “The Government must act to safeguard people from this type of content by introducing far stricter online regulation. Anything less would be a dereliction of duty.”

 

Editors’ note

The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) represents national medical associations across Europe, covering more than 1.7 million doctors in 36 countries. It will host an event in Dublin today, featuring a panel discussion on The Digital Determinants of Poor Health.

The panellists will be:

• Professor Matthew Sadlier, Vice-President and Chair of the Consultants’ Committee of the IMO;
• Ms Ruth Breslin, Director, the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute; and
• Mr Tony O’Reilly, accredited addiction counsellor and co-author of ‘Tony10’, the bestselling and award-winning book that tells the story of Tony’s gambling addiction and subsequent recovery.