Prof. Aphra Kerr (Centre for Digital Policy, UCD & ADAPT) and Prof. Giovanna Mascheroni (Università Cattolica, Milano) co-presented findings from the EU Kids Go Online projects and Algowatch in a workshop ‘Children and Generative AI: Use, Understanding and Misunderstanding’ at the Irish Presidency Conference on Online Safety for Children and Young People in Dublin Castle recently.
A report of the findings of the EU Kids Online 2026 survey was launched (with survey findings from Ireland also) and an overview of the findings was presented by Prof. Elizabeth Staksrud. Ireland’s participation in this project was supported this year by Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s media regulator.
This new survey collected data from approximately 27,000 children aged 9 to 17 years across 17 European countries and presents the most comprehensive study of children’s internet access, online practices, skills, online risks, and opportunities experienced by children in a pan-European context.
This was the first release of new European findings since the last published EU Kids Online Survey of 2020. The EU Kids go Online network is celebrating 20 years in existence this year.
The two day event included talks from Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy and Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection as well as local politicians including Patrick O’Donovan, T.D., Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport and Alan Kelly TD.
Two participants from Ireland’s Youth Forum on Online Safety, also presented.
It preceded the announcement by Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission of the EU Kids Act, which proposes to introduce new rules for online services used by minors, including social media, video-sharing platforms, online games, and AI companions and chatbots.
Links:
EU Kids go online 2026 Survey Report – https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/140901/
Algowatch – https://algowatch.eu/
EU Kids Act – https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/eu-kids-act-helping-children-navigate-safer-online-world-2026-09-17_en
PHOTO: Left to right – Professor E. Staksrud (Oslo), Prof. Giovanna Mascheroni (Università Cattolica, Milano), Professor Emeritus Brian O’Neill (TU Dublin), Dr. Kjartan Ólafsson (University of Akureyri, Iceland) and Prof. Aphra Kerr (UCD).
