National Counter Disinformation Strategy Working Group

The National Counter Disinformation Strategy (NCDS) was published on 17 April 2025. The Strategy sets out 9 commitments and 36 actions to counter the problem of disinformation. The actions were shaped by views received in consultation with the public and with a range of experts and organisations that are currently working to tackle the problem.

The development of a National Counter Disinformation Strategy was a key recommendation of the Future of Media Commission (FoMC), which called for a more coordinated and strategic approach to combat the damaging impact of disinformation on Irish society and democracy.

A Working Group tasked with developing the Strategy was established in February 2023. The Group was independently chaired by a media literacy expert, and comprised representatives from Government Departments, public bodies, industry, academia and civil society. Secretariat was provided by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

The Working Group agreed that the NCDS would be rights-based and structured around five principles, namely building resilience and trust through education and media literacy initiatives, supporting high quality independent journalism, increased cooperation and collaboration, evidence-based responses, as well as corporate accountability and regulatory enforcement.

The Working Group agreed their terms of reference on 24th March, which are based on the Future of Media Commission recommendation. The Terms of Reference are laid out in the below document.

2023

February

The Working Group tasked with developing the National Counter Disinformation Strategy had their first meeting on 24 February. The minutes of the meeting along with the presentation given by EDMO Ireland are attached below.

March

The Working Group met again on 24 March. The minutes of the meeting along with presentations given by Webwise and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue are attached below.

April

The Working Group met for the third time on 20 April. The minutes of the meeting along with presentations given by The Journal’s FactCheck and University College Dublin are attached below.

May

The Working Group met again on 25 May. The minutes of the meeting along with presentations given by the European External Action Service, the VIGILANT Project and Dublin City University/Coimisiún na Meán are attached below.

June

There was a workshop held for all Working Group and Subgroup members on 9 June (more details of Subgroups below). The minutes of the workshop along with presentations given by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and University College Cork are attached below.

July

The Working Group met for the fifth time on 3 July. The minutes of this meeting are attached below.

August

The Working Group met for the sixth time on 10 August. The minutes of this meeting are attached below.

September

The Working Group met again on 28 September. The minutes of the meeting, along with a presentation given by the National Cyber Security Centre, are attached below.

October

The Working Group met for the eighth time on 27 October. The minutes of the meeting, along with a presentation given by the Department of Foreign Affairs, are attached below.

November

The Working Group met again on 24 November. The minutes of the meeting, along with a presentation given by the Hope and Courage Collective, are attached below.

December

The Working Group met for the tenth time on 15 December. The minutes of the meeting are attached below.

2024

February

The Working Group met for the eleventh time on 8 February 2024. The minutes of the meeting are attached below.

March

The Working Group met for the twelfth time on 12 March 2024. The minutes of the meeting are attached below along with a presentation from the National Youth Council of Ireland.

2025

February

The Working Group met for the thirteenth time on 7 February 2025. The minutes of the meeting are attached below.

The Working Group created three subgroups to examine specific work areas pertinent to disinformation and its counter measures. Further details of the subgroups are attached below.

An online written public consultation ran from 25 September to 20 October. 470 submissions were received and a review of submissions was conducted.

A consultative forum of invited stakeholders was held on 29 November 2023 in the Helix, Dublin City University. A note of the event and attendees list is attached below.