Safer Internet Day Event
For Safer Internet Day 2026, the Irish Safer Internet Centre welcomed national and international experts to a stakeholder event to explore this year’s theme AI Aware: Safe, Smart and in Control.
The Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD opened the event, which is the 23rd anniversary of Safer Internet Day, a landmark global event in the online safety calendar and marked in over 180 countries.
The event, which took place in the Department of Justice, Migration and Home Affairs, explored ways to help children and young people be safe and responsible in a complex world increasingly shaped by AI tools and digital technology. Discussions focussed on ways to safeguard children online, reflect on the current state of play of GenAI, and finally to empower children and young people to thrive in the digital world through active participation and education.
A keynote address from Dr Mhairi Aitken; Senior Ethics Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute (the UK’s national institute for AI and data science)reminded us that “Children are not the future, they are the here and now.”
A panel discussion followed, ‘AI – A Reality Check’, which took an evidence-based look at the real risks and harms emerging today, highlighting areas requiring urgent attention from policymakers, industry leaders, and safeguarding professionals. With contributions from Dr Claudette Pretorius, Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin (UCD), Mark Smyth, Senior Clinical Psychologist, Róisín Ingle (columnist, features writer and podcaster with The Irish Times, and parent.), and Orla Hanratty (member of the Webwise Youth Advisory Panel), this discussion also highlighted the voices and lived experiences of young people, to ensure that their insights inform the solutions pursued going forward.
The event also included a contribution from Professor Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics and Political Science. Professor Livingstone shared her insights on what we are getting right and what we are getting wrong in relation to AI and children’s rights, along with her key recommendations for policy makers to ensure these emerging technologies serve the best interests of children and young people.
The final panel discussion featured input from Ireland’s Online Safety Commission Niamh Hodnett (Coimisiún na Meán), Dr. Barry Scannell – Partner, William Fry LLP, Anthony Kilcoyne (Oide Technology in Education), and Tadgh McDermott (Webwise Youth Panellist).
This provided an opportunity to look at the path forward, focussing on the practical steps, policy pathways, and solutions needed to ensure generative AI technologies are safe and age-appropriate for children. It also examined the potential impacts of AI technologies on children and young people, as well as approaches to support children, parents, and educators in understanding and navigating generative AI safely and responsibly.
A Safer Internet Day 2026 report will be available in due course.
Irish Safer Internet Centre
The Irish Safer Internet Centre is a partnership of four leading organisations – Webwise, Hotline.ie, ISPCC and National Parents Council, with a mission to make the Internet a better place for children and young people, under the coordination of the Department of Justice – Cybercrime Division. The Irish Safer Internet Centre partner organisations work towards a shared mission of making the internet a safer and more inclusive place for children and young people.
