Ireland’s media regulator Coimisiún na Meán has opened a formal investigation into X over concerns that the platform’s age assurance measures and parental controls fail to meet the requirements of the country’s Online Safety Code, marking the first such investigation since the code took effect in July 2025.

As reported by RTÉ, the investigation follows reviews by the regulator’s platform supervision team, which raised concerns about the potentially ineffective implementation of age assurance mechanisms on X. Under the code, X is required to use age assurance to prevent children from viewing videos depicting pornography, extreme violence, or acts of cruelty. Because the platform permits adult-only content while also allowing users under 16, it must additionally provide parental control systems giving guardians oversight of what children encounter.

“A concern exists that the parental controls put in place by X may not be effective, do not have minimum requirements, are hard to locate and are not brought to the attention of new users at sign-up stage, as required by the Code,” Coimisiún na Meán stated.

John Evans, Digital Services Commissioner at the regulator, said age assurance based solely on self-declaration is not considered effective and that platforms allowing users under 16 must ensure parental controls are easy to locate and flagged to users at sign-up. “Children have a fundamental right to participate in society, which includes the digital world, and to be protected from harm, abuse and exploitation online,” Evans said.

If found in breach of the Online Safety Code, X faces a fine of up to 10% of relevant annual turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater. X said in July 2025 that it was introducing new age assurance measures to comply with Irish, UK and EU rules, including checks based on prior verification signals, account creation dates, and eventually user-submitted options such as a live selfie or government-issued ID.

The X inquiry comes alongside five investigations Coimisiún na Meán has opened into platforms under the EU Digital Services Act within the past year, involving X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. The regulator is also party to four joint investigations opened by the European Commission covering TikTok, X and Shein.

The scrutiny lands as child-safety enforcement against major platforms escalates on multiple fronts. Meta agreed last month to pay $18 billion to settle claims from nearly all U.S. states over child mental health harms on Facebook and Instagram, a deal that requires daily usage limits, nighttime blocks for teens, and enhanced age assurance measures. Part of that settlement, $5 billion, is contingent on Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopting comparable age-assurance and time-limit safeguards.

Meta separately faces a $375 million New Mexico jury verdict and ongoing multidistrict litigation alongside TikTok, Snap and YouTube over similar allegations.

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