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Minister Martin launches comprehensive online safety research on internet use by children and adults

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, today launched a comprehensive report of a national survey of children, their parents and adults regarding online safety. The report was commissioned following a recommendation put forward by the National Advisory Council for Online Safety (NACOS) that acknowledged a need for up-to-date research and evidence about the state of online safety in Ireland.

The research consisted of three nationally representative surveys, one of children, one of their parents, and a separate survey of adults. The objectives of the research were to:

  • determine how adults and children in Ireland use and access the internet and the level of their digital skills
  • estimate the prevalence of online risks experienced by internet users
  • identify opportunities and benefits obtained using the internet
  • identify safety practices of adults and children when using the internet
  • identify how parents and carers mediate in the use of internet by their children

Overall, this research provides a clear overview of how people in Ireland, particularly children, access and use the internet, including their digital literacy and exposure to risks. The research also examines how children and parents work together to deal with any risks.

Some key findings are:

  • most children are positive about the Internet and say there are good elements for their age. 44% say this is very true and 39% say it is fairly true
  • 62% of children and young people, aged 9-17 year, use social media. This rises from a quarter of 9–10-year-olds to nearly 90% of 15–17-year-olds
  • people being nasty to each other (24%) and bullying (22%) stand out as the most mentioned issues that upset young people. A quarter of all girls (26%) listed people being nasty to each other as the issue that most frequently upsets them
  • children and their parents or carers have different perceptions of children’s’ experiences. For example, 53% of parents say they help their child when something bothers them on the Internet. This contrasts with 19% of children who report telling a parent about issues that have upset them online
  • 82% of parents or carers say that they would most prefer to receive online safety information from the child’s school with 60% currently receiving information this way
  • for adults, being contacted by strangers or someone they didn’t know is the most reported problem encountered online. This is reported by 13% of adults overall. 8% say this happens at least every month and 3% at least every week

The Minister, launching the report in her role as chair of the National Advisory Council for Online Safety, said:

“The pandemic has brought sharp focus to the reality that the internet is a key part of our lives and those of our children. From working, schooling and creating from home, the internet has enabled us to weather this crisis in ways which surprised us all.

“It has enabled us to maintain communication with our families, friends, workplaces, and instantly, allowing us to live and work remotely for extensive periods.

“However, while the internet has had a broadly positive impact on our society, there are, of course, risks, particularly to children. Some of these risks are extensions of existing offline phenomena, such as bullying. Others represent new challenges, such as image based abuse.

“This crucial report shines a light on how the people of Ireland, particularly children, use the internet, the risks they face online, and how they respond to those risks.

“While illuminating both the positive and negative parts of the online world, the risks identified in this report underline the need for regulation, for example the prevalence of cyberbullying, particularly among 13-14 year olds. The report also highlights the need for a holistic approach to online safety, involving educators, parents, carers and regulators.

“To address this, I am working to progress the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill as a matter of urgency. The Bill will establish a robust Online Safety Commissioner, as part of a wider Media Commission, whose goal will be to tackle the availability of defined categories of harmful online content, including cyberbullying content, through binding Online Safety Codes. The Commissioner will also have a role in producing, coordinating and supporting online safety educational initiatives and research.”

Professor Brian O’Neill, speaking as the Deputy Chair of the National Advisory Council for Online Safety, said:

“This research project has yielded a wealth of data about people’s experiences of being online and will serve as an incredibly useful baseline for further research and evidence gathering on particular online safety issues, especially about children and their experiences.

"The report itself concisely and clearly presents the complex picture of our online lives, both the positive and the negative, and will be a very useful resource for evidence based policy making going forward.”

John Church, Chief Executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), said:

“The publication of this important research gives us valuable insights into how children and young people in Ireland today use the Internet and engage online. It is important we understand their specific concerns and behaviours in order to develop fit-for-purpose public policy responses, adequate education provisions and supports.

“The proposed establishment of the Online Safety Commissioner will be an important step in coordinating these desired online safety responses, including that of robust regulation.”

Áine Lynch, CEO of the National Parents Council (NPC), said:

“The wealth of information and insight gained through this research is vital in ensuring that all children engage with their online world in the safest and most enjoyable way possible.

“It is very encouraging to see so many positive ways in which children engage and have positive connections through the internet, however it is concerning that only 19% of children report telling a parent about issues that have upset them online. This data indicates important work that should be prioritised in the future.”

The report is available below.

Report of a National Survey of Children, their Parents and Adults regarding Online Safety
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Notes

Timeline

In 2019, NACOS recommended this research be conducted. Fieldwork was carried out by IPSOS MRBI between December 2019 and October 2020, both before and after COVID-19 restrictions began. The dataset was compiled and cleaned by IPSOS MRBI and supplied in Spring 2021. A research subgroup of the Council analysed the data and compiled a report during Summer 2021 and presented a draft in September 2021, which was finalised. A total of 765 children, 765 parents/carers and, separately, 387 adults were interviewed.

Role of the National Advisory Council for Online Safety

NACOS was established in 2018 as a forum for non-governmental, industry, and academic stakeholders to discuss and work on online safety issues. NACOS provides advice to Government on online safety issues, emerging issues where government intervention might be needed, help creating online safety guidance and examines national and international research and communicates findings to Government, stakeholders and the public.

NACOS is chaired by Minister Catherine Martin, and the Deputy Chair of the Council is Professor Brian O’Neill, an online safety expert, and former Director of Research, Enterprise and Innovation Services at Technological University Dublin.

Further themes

While the report provides a wealth of nuanced data regarding the state of online safety in Ireland, there are a number of standout themes highlighted here.

  • one of these themes is that the online environment is pervasive and that interaction with many aspects of this environment is a daily occurrence across almost all age groups. In particular, the frequency and complexity of these interactions increases with age as children mature and transition into adulthood and then begins to decline in older adults
  • in general, the amount of time a child spends online rises with age, with 15–17-year-olds reporting on average 3.2 hours online daily. This is a marked increase since the last EU Kids Online survey in Ireland in 2010 where boys and girls reported spending 1 hour daily online
  • social media is strongly associated with age: while a quarter (26%) of 9–10-year-olds report having a social media profile, this rises to just under half, or 45% of 11–12-year-olds, three quarters or 73% of 13–14-year-olds and 87% of 15-17 year olds
  • entertainment uses, for example: watching video clips (56%) and listening to music (55%) are the most popular online activities for all age groups. Gender differences are noteworthy for online gaming or schoolwork
  • the top ten apps and services, as reported by children of all ages, include YouTube (51%), Snapchat (43%), Instagram (26%), TikTok (22%) and Facebook (11%).There are significant variations across different age categories of children with the online risks they encounter. IE, children aged 13-14 (22%) report experiencing being bullied offline and online to a greater degree than those aged 9-12 (13%) or 15-17 (18%)
  • children’s digital literacy is advanced: almost half of those 19-12 know how to create and post online video or music. For 13-17 year olds, this rises to 85%
  • 61% of adults say they trust most of the news they choose to read online but only 25% say social media does a good job helping users distinguish fact from fiction

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