by Clíodhna Purdue, Assistant Director of Media Literacy and User Education, Coimisiún na Meán
Coimisiún na Meán has launched a suite of educational resources called Rights, Rules and Reporting Online. These resources are designed to help young people, teachers and parents/guardians better understand their rights under the Online Safety Framework.
Formerly the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), Coimisiún na Meán was established in 2023 with an extended remit to enforce the three new laws that form the Online Safety Framework (the Digital Services Act, the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, and the Terrorism Content Online Regulation Act).
Rights, Rules and Reporting Online outline the role of Coimsiún na Meán, the rights children and young people have under these new laws, and how to report illegal and harmful content.
These resources were created in consultation with Webwise and Coimisiún na Meán’s Youth Advisory Committee to ensure the language and approach were suitable for young people.
The resources (all available in English and Irish) comprise:
- Two lesson plans – one for Junior Cycle and one for Senior Cycle. These lessons are suitable for use in subjects such as SPHE, CSPE, Digital Media Literacy and Politics and Society.
- Two videos* – a video for young people summarises their rights online under the Online Safety Framework. A shorter video for parents/guardians outlines how the framework protects their children’s rights online.
- A classroom poster, infographic, Teacher’s Guide and student handouts, all of which can be downloaded from the Guides and Resources section of the Coimisiún na Meán website.
We are always looking for feedback and if you, or someone close to you, have used these resources and have questions about them, we would be so grateful to hear from you. Our evaluation link is here.
For more information on the role and remit of Coimisiún na Meán, visit our new website. You may be interested in our guides on how to report on X, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, an overview of what is considered harmful or illegal content online, and our work on media literacy.
*We are happy for our videos to be used and circulated widely for the purpose of education. If you intend to use them in presentations, we would ask you to seek permission by emailing us at usereducation@cnam.ie and that you acknowledge Coimisiún na Meán as creator of the resource.
