Policy information
Online Safety
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
While there was significant regulation and general legislation for online issues, greater attention was needed to address the issue of harmful online content on both a national and an international level. This required the involvement not only of Government, but also of industry, teachers, parents, children and young people, which led to a coordinated approach to tackling online safety through the development and implementation of the Action Plan for Online Safety.
Subsequently, and among other things, the Government developed and enacted the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, established a National Advisory Council for Online Safety, and continues work on the development of a National Counter Disinformation Strategy Working Group
The Action Plan for Online Safety 2018 - 2019 was the Government’s first action plan in this area. The objective was to set out and implement actions that are achievable and that would have the greatest impact on online safety for everyone in Ireland. A number of progress reports were published.
The Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Act 2022 has, among other things, established a multi-person Media Commission (to be known as Coimisiún na Meán), dissolved the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, established the regulatory framework for online safety and updated the regulation of television broadcasting and video on-demand services.
The Act has empowered An Coimisiún to designate online services for regulation from a pool of relevant online services, and create and enforce binding online safety codes applying to those services. Those online safety codes will, among other things, seek to minimise the availability of defined categories of harmful online content and provide for standards in relation to the complaints handling processes operated by those services.
Government approved the publication of the (then) OSMR Bill on 12 January 2022. The Bill was then initiated in Seanad Éireann on 25 January 2022 and in Dáil Éireann on 11 July 2022 for consideration for enactment. The Bill underwent intense scrutiny in both Houses of the Oireachtas, including 30 hours in the Seanad and around 10 hours in the Dáil before being signed into law on 10 December 2022.
The Act was subsequently commenced on 15 March 2023.
Further information on the Act is available here .
On 15 March 2023, upon commencement of the OSMR Act, Coimisiún na Meán was formally established and four Commissioners formally appointed. An Coimisiún is being led by the following Commissioners, who were appointed by Minister Martin following an open competition conducted by the Public Appointments Service:
• Jeremy Godfrey as Executive Chairperson;
• Niamh Hodnett as Online Safety Commissioner;
• John Evans as the Digital Services Commissioner;
• Rónán Ó Domhnaill as Media Development Commissioner; and,
• Celene Craig as Broadcasting Commissioner.
Further information on Coimisiún na Meán, including its functions, are available on their official website .
The Action Plan for Online Safety 2018-2019 led to the formation of the National Advisory Council for Online Safety (NACOS). NACOS is a forum for non-governmental, industry, and academic stakeholders to discuss online safety issues.
The Council has 20 members and a chairperson. The membership of the Council is drawn from children's and parents' organisations, major online platforms, and experts on online safety issues.
Further information relating to the work of NACOS is available here .
The development of a National Counter Disinformation Strategy is a key recommendation from the Future of Media Commission , which called for a more coordinated and strategic approach to combat the damaging impact of disinformation on Irish society and democracy.
The new strategy will be informed by Ireland’s existing media literacy initiatives, domestic legislation, and European regulatory measures.
A Working Group has been established and tasked with developing the Strategy. Further information on the Working Group is available here .