You already know some online rights young people have, like the right to information, to free expression (saying what you think), to protection as a young person and to data protection (keeping your personal information safe). Today you will look at who can help when something goes wrong online, what each of them can do, and who should put it right.
When something goes wrong online, who can do something about it? Here an actor means a person or group who can help, not a film actor. The table shows what five kinds of actor in Ireland can and cannot do.
| Actor | Can | Cannot |
|---|---|---|
| You | Report, block, keep evidence, tell a trusted adult, use the platform’s tools. | Force a company to change its rules on your own. |
| A parent or guardian | Support you, help you report, set boundaries at home, contact a school or company with you. | Read every private message, or fix a platform by shouting. |
| The company | Design safety features, respond to reports, remove content under its rules and the law. | Check every post the moment it goes up, or solve harm that happens offline on its own. |
| Government online-safety rules and data-protection rules | Set rules platforms must follow, investigate when those rules are broken, and take a complaint further if the platform has not fixed it. | Delete one nasty comment for you the same day, arrest a user, or replace the report button. |
| Civil society support and information groups | Explain options, calm someone down, point you to the right report tool, form or trusted adult. | Force a platform to remove content, issue legal orders, or change the law. |
A guardian is an adult who looks after you, and civil society means helpful groups outside home, school, companies and government.
Some of these problems can also be crimes, such as threatening messages or sharing private images of someone without their consent. The Gardaí can investigate a crime, so with a trusted adult it can be reported to them as well as to the platform.
The class works in five groups. Each group becomes the class expert on one actor: what it can and cannot really do.
Group 1: The young person. Complaints A, C and E.
Group 2: A parent or guardian. Complaints B, D and F.
Group 3: The digital technology company (the platform or app). Complaints A, D and F.
Group 4: Government. Complaints B, C and E.
Group 5: Civil society (helpful organisations outside school, home, companies and government). Complaints A, B and F.
A. Private photos from a group chat were screenshotted and posted publicly without everyone's consent, meaning their permission.
B. A young person asked a platform to delete their account and personal data. Weeks later, nothing has changed.
C. A stranger keeps sending abusive (nasty or threatening) direct messages after being blocked once.
D. A video of a fight outside a school is spreading on a short-video app and several students want it taken down.
E. A free game app is collecting exact location data that the user never knowingly agreed to share.
F. A young person keeps seeing harmful content in their recommended feed that they have already tried to stop seeing, and wants stronger action than "not interested".
The three labels
For each of your three complaints, choose one of these labels and give one short reason.
- Act: your actor can do something about it directly.
- Support only: your actor can help, give advice or pass the problem on, but someone else has to do the main fix.
- Not our job: this is outside what your actor can really do.
Complaint C, the young person: Act. They can block the stranger again, report the messages, keep screenshots and tell an adult they trust.
Government group only
Government does two jobs, so for each complaint say which one you mean.
- Online safety: rules platforms must follow to keep users safe, for content that has already been reported to the company.
- Data protection: people's rights over their personal information, such as an account, personal data or location.
Neither job deletes a post the same day. Hint: B and E usually point to data protection.
Prepare in your group (about 9 minutes)
- Look back at your actor's row in the table in the last step.
- Pick the one power and the one limit that matter most for your three complaints.
- Give each of your three complaints a label, with one short reason.
Teach the class (about 6 minutes)
Each group has about 60 seconds: your actor, one power, one limit, and one complaint with its label and why.
While other groups present, listen for complaints where two actors both say they can help, and for complaints that nobody can fully fix alone.
Now that you know what each actor can and cannot do, think about a harder question. There is no single right answer.
When something goes wrong online for a young person, who should have the main responsibility for putting it right?
View 1: The platforms first. They design the feeds, the report buttons and the rules, and they earn money from people's attention, so they should do the most to prevent harm and fix it.
View 2: Parents and guardians first. Young people are still learning to make good decisions, so the adults who care for them should set limits, notice problems early and take them further.
View 3: Young people themselves. Blocking, reporting, keeping evidence and choosing what to share is the help that works fastest when something happens.
View 4: Everyone shares it. No one actor can cover every case, so each does its own part, and the young person still has choices only they can make.
What to do
- On your own, pick the view closest to yours, or mix two. Name one strength of it and one fair weakness.
- With a partner, say their view back in one fair sentence until they agree you have it right. Do not try to win.
- As a class, hear two people with different views. Notice where you agree on what each actor can do, and where you disagree on who should do the most.
Can you say what you think, give the strongest argument against it, and name one actor whose limits make your view harder to put into practice?
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