Coalition leaders Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with input from Independents, have outlined the following key priorities around media and digital literacy in their newly ratified Programme for Government 2025: Securing Ireland’s Future.
Their key priorities are as follows:
- Support and fund Online Safety Programmes for schools, giving them more flexibility in how to use it.
- Promote digital literacy and online safety education in schools, especially through Webwise in collaboration with Coimisiún na Meán and other organisations to ensure children understand online safety risks and increase supports against bullying, online abuse and expanding counselling resources.
- Continue to implement digital literacy and online safety education in schools, and launch public awareness campaigns to educate and support parents.
- Develop a comprehensive strategy to combat the harms related to social media.
- Through Coimisiún na Meán, allocating Shared Island funding resources to schemes which encourage professional cross border.
- Funding a National Counter Disinformation Strategy.
- Sustain independent, unbiased and pluralistic journalism through supporting the work of Coimisiún na Meán, the media regulator.
- Counter disinformation through regulation and support for trusted public information sources.
- Support the development and rollout of the EU’s Democracy Shield to combat the disinformation and malign online manipulation waged by foreign powers in Europe.
