CyberSafeKids

28/04/2026

📣 R​egistration is now open for the final session​ in our ​Online Safety Lunchtime Chat ​Series​ (before September!), ​t​ailored for parents and caregivers of children aged 10 and over.​

📲​ Let's be honest – ​raising kids in the digital age isn't easy. Helping our tweens and teens navigate the digital​ world​ can be challenging and stressful, feel overwhelming, and sometimes like you're figuring it all out on your own. That's exactly why we created this space​!

Join fellow parents and guardians along with CyberSafeKids trainers Olwyn Beresford and Ann Harte for a 45-minute conversation packed with ​real, practical ​ways to help keep your school-aged children (10+) safer online.

Whether you want to listen, ask questions, share a specific worry​ or real-life challenge around your child’s online safety, this is a warm, supportive space to talk openly about the realities of digital parenting.

Please Note: To encourage open conversation and active particpation while respecting and protecting everyone's privacy, we do not record the​se sessions.

🗓️ Parents and caregivers of children OVER 10 years
⏰ Wednesday, 6th May, 2026 | 13:00–13:45

💻To register, please click on the Zoom link ➡️
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/v1MO8inGSR2a6XOO2S3dfw

A big thank you to our sponsors Dot_IE and Blacknight for making this series possible.

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Lunchtime chat for parents of children over 10. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

27/04/2026

Register now - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/screentime-and-internet-safety-parents-workshop-tickets-1987542371737?aff=oddtdtcreator

How do you feel about your childrens' internet use?
Want to feel more in control?

With this free workshop, you'll gain:
- tools to help you manage your child's screen time
- tips on how to speak to your child about the online world
- covers Youtube, gaming and social media use
+ much more

17/04/2026

📣 Update: ​This Online Safety Lunchtime Chat for parents, guardians, and caregivers ​of primary school-aged children up to 11 years​ is now FULLY BOOKED!

Thanks to everyone who signed up. Olwyn and Ann are looking forward to chatting with you all next ​Wednesday.

If you didn't get a spot this time, please keep an eye out for our next ​and last session ​of the series focusing on online safety for parents of children ​OVER 10.

​This will take place at 1pm on​ Wednesday​, May 6th so mark your calendars now and stay tuned to our socials for registration details coming soon...

​Please note: To encourage open conversation and active particpation, while respecting and protecting everyone’s privacy, we do not record the​se sessions.

Thank you to our sponsors Dot_IE and Blacknight for making this series possible.

14/04/2026

📣 Parents, guardians, and caregivers — join us for our second-to-last lunchtime chat in the series!

​👩🏾‍💻 Managing ​your child’s online ​a​ctivity can ​f​eel ​c​hallenging and​, at times, overwhelming​. That’s why we’re inviting you to take a break and j​oin two of our most experienced CyberSafeKids trainers, Olwyn Beresford and Ann Harte, ​over lunch on Zoom for a relaxed​ ​and supportive conversation about ​n​avigating your child​'s ​d​igital world.

​Grab a sandwich and tune in for 45 minutes of practical tips and strategies to help children of primary school age (up to 11 years) stay safe online.

Whether you want to just sit back and listen or you have a question or concern, this is a welcoming space for open discussion and support around digital parentin​g.

​🗓️ Wednesday, ​​22nd April 202​6​: parents of primary school-aged children up to 11 years
⏰ 13:00–13:45
✍️ Register now via Zoom ➡️ https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FYgri3nOS4GATxIIg_Hfmw

A big thank you to our sponsors and for making this series possible.

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Lunchtime chat for parents of children under 11. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

09/04/2026

‼️ Ireland's new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bill is 180 pages long.

The word "child" doesn't appear once.

Right now, children across Ireland are spending hours every day in AI-driven environments: interacting with AI chatbots, recommendation algorithms, and AI-powered games.

This Bill — as written — offers them no clear protection.

We've seen what happens when we let technology scale faster than regulation. With social media, children paid the price. We can't make the same mistake twice.

That’s why we’re submitting a response to the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment today, calling for real, enforceable protections for children, including:

1. A named regulator for child-facing AI,
2. Mandatory Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) before products go live,
3. Age verification for AI chatbots,
4. A complaints process that actually works for families.

Silence on children is not a neutral position.

Ireland now has a chance to get this right — and with our EU Council Presidency beginning in July, a chance to lead on it across Europe too.

We urge the Committee to ensure that children are explicitly recognised and protected in the final legislation.

If you or your organisation want to help ensure children are protected, you can make a submission ➡️ https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/committees/making-a-submission/public-consultations/20260306-public-consultation-on-the-pre-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-general-scheme-of-the-regulation-of-the-artificial-intelligence-bill-2026/

See General Scheme of the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026

➡️https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/legislation/legislation-files/general-scheme-of-the-regulation-of-artificial-intelligence-bill-2026.pdf

📧 The closing date for receipt of submissions to [email protected] is 5:30 p.m. on Monday, 13 April 2026.

James O'Connor TD Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy - SERP Institute Children's Rights Alliance

09/04/2026

‼️ Ireland's new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bill is 180 pages long.

The word "child" doesn't appear once.

Right now, children across Ireland are spending hours every day in AI-driven environments: interacting with AI chatbots, recommendation algorithms, and AI-powered games.

This Bill — as written — offers them no clear protection.

We've seen what happens when we let technology scale faster than regulation. With social media, children paid the price. We can't make the same mistake twice.

That’s why we’re submitting a response to the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment today, calling for real, enforceable protections for children, including:
1. A named regulator for child-facing AI,
2. Mandatory Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) before products go live,
3. Age verification for AI chatbots,
4. A complaints process that actually works for families.

Silence on children is not a neutral position.

Ireland now has a chance to get this right — and with our EU Council Presidency beginning in July, a chance to lead on it across Europe too.

We urge the Committee to ensure that children are explicitly recognised and protected in the final legislation.

If you or your organisation want to help ensure children are protected, you can make a submission ➡️ https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/committees/making-a-submission/public-consultations/20260306-public-consultation-on-the-pre-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-general-scheme-of-the-regulation-of-the-artificial-intelligence-bill-2026/

📧 The closing date for receipt of submissions to [email protected]
is 5:30 p.m. on Monday, 13 April 2026.

Paul Donnelly TD Senator Conor Murphy Senator Linda Nelson Murray .burke.fg Niamh Smyth TD .eoghandockrell .ie

06/04/2026

🎬​ K​eep an eye out for our Same Rules Apply​ video in cinemas nationwide ​t​his week — already ​viewed over 1.​3M+ times and counting​!

📙​ If you haven't had a chance yet, ​t​ake a look at ​​the parent resources ​(guide + webinar) on our campaign​ page​ to help you​ navigate your child’s digital world with confidence. These include a webinar with child & adolescent psychotherapist, Dr. Colman Noctor, and an updated Essential Digital Parenting Guide ​p​acked with ​information​, practical tips, and useful resources​.

📺 ​To learn more about delaying smartphone ownership, managing the pull of gaming and social media, having age-appropriate conversations about p​0rnography, understanding the ​negative emotional impact of harmful content​ on a child’s development and mental wellbeing​, and navigating new challenges like generative AI—watch our CEO Alex Cooney in conversation with Dr. Colman Noctor.

➡️​ www.cybersafekids.ie/samerulesapply

‼️​ Above all, one of the most important ways to keep your child safe is to build​ and nurture a strong, trusting relationship with them.​ Make time to really listen, stay curious about their online world, and keep conversations open, regular, and judgement-free. When children feel heard and supported, they are far more likely to come to you with concerns​.

The campaign is kindly supported by the and Accenture.

04/04/2026

📖 Parents and ​carers​, if you haven't had a chance yet, ​t​ake a look at ​​the parent resources available on our ​Same Rules Apply campaign​ page​​.

These include a webinar with child and adolescent psychotherapist Dr. Colman Noctor​ and a digital parenting guide​​ to empower you as parents in supporting your child’s online experiences.

From healthy digital habits and parental controls to cyberbullying, grooming, privacy, generative AI, and online laws, ​o​ur updated Essential Digital Parenting Guide​ offers practical tips, trusted resources, and a commonsense approach to keeping children safe online.

Above all, one of the most important ways to keep your child safe is to build​ a strong, trusting relationship with them.​ Make time to really listen, stay curious about their online world, and keep conversations open, regular, and judgement-free. When children feel heard and supported, they are far more likely to come to you with concerns​.

To read or download this guide, please see the link in our bio or go to www.cybersafekids.ie/samerulesapply

The campaign is kindly supported by the HSE Ireland and Accenture.

02/04/2026

‼️ Finally, a legal argument has pierced the protective shield Big Tech has been given by the three-decade-old Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (1996), writes Alex Cooney in the Irish Examiner today.

There have been a few moments over the past 10 years of working in online safety for children that might well have been described as "to***co moments".

Some point to the Cambridge Analytica scandal coming to light in 2018, which exposed massive misuse of personal data for political gain.

Others to the 2022 coroner's inquest into the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who died by su***de in 2017, which represented the first time a coroner in the UK legally concluded that social media content contributed to a child's death — explicitly naming Pinterest and Instagram in the findings.

Or the whistleblower revelations — Frances Haugen in 2021 and Arturo Béjar in 2023 — which showed that Meta not only knew their platforms were harming children, but in some cases actively suppressed their own internal research rather than act on it.

At a minimum these were shocking moments in the digital age, yet they were not enough to shift the dial in terms of changing these companies' behaviour and practices.

But last Thursday's ruling in Los Angeles — that Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube were deliberately designed to be addictive and that their design caused serious harm to a young girl — is an historic outcome, and one that could dramatically shape the resolution of the thousands of similar lawsuits to come.

By focusing on how these platforms were deliberately designed to maximise engagement and addiction — rather than on the content they host — the plaintiffs' lawyers found a way around the shield that Big Tech has so consistently used to evade responsibility.

Read full piece ➡️ https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41818010.html

01/04/2026

‼️ This is not an April Fool’s joke. From 3 April 2026, online platforms in the EU will no longer be able to detect child sexual abuse material.

That means fewer reports to authorities, fewer investigations, and fewer children identified and protected. In 2021, when this system briefly stopped, reports dropped by 58%.

Behind every image is a child. And every day without detection means more harm.

247 children’s rights organisations from across Europe (including the Children's Rights Alliance, CyberSafeKids, Childline by ISPCC, Hotline.ie) and beyond are calling on policymakers to act urgently and ensure a permanent framework for detection. Children cannot pay the price of political deadlock.

“This is about are they going to suffer some of the most horrific abuse and exploitation that any child could suffer. No child should have to encounter it and certainly they should be protected from it. That same level of urgency and conviction is not there to protect children as it is to protect the privacy and freedom of speech.” - Noeline Blackwell, Children's Rights AllianceChildren's Rights Alliance.

Read and share the European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group's (ECLAG) full statement ➡️https://childsafetyineurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026.04.01_Joint-Statement-on-the-end-of-EU-legal-basis-to-detect-CSA.pdf

30/03/2026

📣 Our Same Rules Apply campaign is ​b​ack on the big screen! ​K​eep an eye out for our video in cinemas nationwide over the next two weeks — already watched 1.2M+ times and counting. 🎬

📙​ If you haven't had a chance yet, check out ​​the parent resources ​(guide + webinar) available on our campaign​ page​ to support and help you​ navigate your child’s digital world with confidence.

These include a webinar with child & adolescent psychotherapist, Dr. Colman Noctor, and an updated Essential Digital Parenting Guide full of ​information on​ creating healthy digital habits​, using parental control​s, ​tackling cyberbullying​ and grooming, ​understanding generative AI, privacy​ and online laws​, along with a range of other useful resources​.

📺​ Watch ​our CEO Alex Cooney​ in conversation with child & adolescent psychotherapist if you'd like to ​know more about how ​important it is to collectively delay smartphone ownership; how we can [try to] compete​ with the addictive nature of gaming and social media; h​ow to have age-appropriate conversations with ​your child(ren) about​ p​0rnography, ​as well as understand the negative emotional impact of inappropriate content on a child’s development and mental wellbeing​; the new challenges ​we as parents are now facing with generative AI; ​and much more...

➡️​ www.cybersafekids.ie/samerulesapply

The campaign is kindly supported by the HSE Ireland and .

29/03/2026

‼️ "This week​'s landmark rulings in two American courtrooms might just​ be the first indication that the once impenetrable walls of Big Tech have finally been breached​," ​​writes Philip Arneill, head of communications & research​ at CyberSafeKids in today's Irish Mail on Sunday​.

P​hilip argues that Big Tech companies like Meta and Google may finally be facing meaningful accountability after years of operating behind secrecy, legal protections, and​ a "relentlessly profit-driven​ algorithm​." Recent U.S. court rulings found these platforms contributed to harm, particularly to children, including ​intentional addictive design and failures to prevent exploitation, signaling a potential turning point similar to the legal reckoning faced by Big To***co in the 1990s.

Despite relatively small financial penalties, the cases could have wider implications by challenging longstanding legal shields like Section 230 and reframing social media platforms as products that ​"must be subject to the same rigorous testing that toys, games and​ leisure equipment undergo in the EU to protect users from harm.​" ​

H​e highlights the vulnerability of ​"children and young people who have unprecedented (and underage) access to platforms not designed for them" arguing that these rulings expose systemic harm and may mark the beginning of sustained legal and societal pressure on Big Tech.

​"These landmark cases have once and for all proved, however, that children are being damaged​ by their online experiences, and we have been sold a lie.​ In the Californian case this week, the plaintiff – known only as Kaley or KMG – was awarded $6 million​ (€5.2 million) in damages. Again, pocket change for Meta, but this case is just the first of over 1,500​ also pending in US courts. The companies will of course appeal, and use all their resources,​ legal might and political influence to evade responsibility, but the old excuses are now looking​much flimsier. Like the to***co companies of the 1990s found, once the walls have been​ breached, and that seeming invincibility is challenged, those same walls are very, very hard to​ repair.​" ⬇️ ⬇️