Ms Mary Aiken, Director of the RCSI CyberPsychology Research Centre based in the RCSI Institute of Leadership, is part of the government Internet Content Governance Advisory (ICGA) Group which has produced 30 recommendations to be followed up by a team from five Government Departments.

Minister for Communications Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, recently launched this report, which will act as a new framework for the oversight of internet content.

Speaking on the launch of this report, Minister Rabbitte said: “I am delighted to launch this report. When I formed the ICGA Group in December last year, I set them the challenging target of reporting to me by the end of May. They not only met this deadline but produced a high quality, comprehensive and insightful report with practical recommendations.”

The Minister had asked the expert group to consider a number of issues arising for society, and in particular for children and young people, from the dramatic growth in internet use over the last decade, and particularly since the advent of affordable internet connected mobile devices. They were asked to deal with the issues of bullying and harassment online and issues around age inappropriate viewing of content.

The group's wide ranging recommendations in the report include changes to institutional, legislative and administrative governance arrangements. The Minister also announced the formation of an implementation group chaired by his Department and comprising representatives of the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills, Justice and Equality, and Health, who will agree on and oversee the implementation of the ICGA Group recommendations.

Commenting on the publication of the ICGA Group report, Mary Aiken said, “The RCSI CyberPsychology Research Centre was established to provide analysis, insight and leadership regarding current and emerging human-technology interfaces. One of the roles of the centre is to help inform policy concerning child development and protection issues in a cyber context. We welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the advisory group and report. We are looking forward to supporting the implementation of recommendations.”