DUBLIN, Sept 8 (Reuters) - ⁠An Irish regulator has begun a formal investigation ⁠into social media platform X over concerns ‌about potential child access to material depicting pornography and violence and the effectiveness of parental controls, it said on Tuesday.

Media regulator ​Coimisiún na Meán has the power ⁠to apply a ⁠fine of up to 10% of "relevant annual turnover" under ⁠Ireland's Online ‌Safety Code.

Under the code, age assurance is required to ensure that children do ⁠not see videos "depicting pornography or extreme/gross and gratuitous ​violence or ‌acts of cruelty," the regulator said in a ⁠statement announcing ​the investigation.

It said concerns had arisen in relation to the "potential ineffective implementation of age assurance mechanisms by X," ⁠adding that age assurance based ​solely on self-declaration is not considered effective.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its website ⁠says the company takes a "multi-faceted age assurance approach to verify or estimate whether users are 18 or under."

In its statement the regulator also cited concerns that ​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."

(Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by William James)