Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire TD, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has this evening (Tuesday) expressed her shock and concern at the content of a new plastic surgery app targeting children as young as nine. Deputy Mitchell O’Connor is calling on iTunes to remove the app from its online store.

“This app has understandably prompted an outraged response on social media today. The so-called ‘fat-shaming’ app encourages children to carry out plastic surgery on the cartoon imagine of a girl who ‘has so much extra weight that no diet can help her’.

“The app asks users to ‘suck out the extra fat’ and ‘make small cuts on problem areas’. It is extremely disturbing that an app of this nature would be targeted at children as young as nine. Using this app could undoubtedly contribute to a young girl having a negative body imagine.

“I am calling on iTunes to remove this app from its online store. The company must take some responsibility over the content offered in the apps it sells, and the content of this app simply cannot be condoned.”