DCU Law and Tech hosts a dynamic group of researchers with multiple disciplinary backgrounds, ranging from law and political science to computing and engineering.
Children’s online safety and protection of LGBTQ+ groups
The (Un)Making of LGBTQI+ Children’s Digital Rights
Many countries around the world are considering regulating children’s online safety by introducing obligations requiring social media platforms to filter and restrict access to specific types of content. The combined effect of the emergence of these new regulatory frameworks and the interpretation of these rules at platform level has been criticized for its capacity to potentially censor online content and discriminate against LGBTQ+ groups. Social media have proved to be a unique instrument to access, transmit and receive information within LGBTQ+ communities, especially in countries still discriminating against these societal groups. Preventing children from accessing these types of content has a profound impact on their education and personal development, and more generally risks representing a disproportionate compression of their fundamental rights.
Partners/Funders
Publications
- Karolin Rippich, ‘A Matter of Principles: What Commission v Hungary Means for Digital Constitutionalism in the EU’ (Comparative Digital Law Blog, 27 June 2025) <https://lawandtech.ie/ca-matter-of-principles-what-commission-v-hungary-means-for-digital-constitutionalism-in-the-eu>.
Presentations
- Anti-Bullying Centre PhD Research Seminar Series, Dublin City University, A Multi-Method Approach to Studying the Influence of Anti-Gender Ideologies on the EU’s Child Online Safety Framework, Sep 2th 2025
- World Anti-Bullying Forum 2025, University of Stavanger, Ideological Bullying and Anti-Gender Movements: Examining Digital Hostility as a Mechanism of Control and Exclusion in Cyberbullying Contexts, Jun 10-13th 2025
- Postgraduate Research (Un)Conference, Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Bridging the Gap: A Meta-Narrative Review Connecting Research on Anti-Gender Movements and Children’s Online Safety, May 21st 2025
- GIG-ARTS 2025, University of Salerno, Reclaiming Sovereignty or Reinforcing Marginalisation? Anti-Gender Movements, Digital Sovereignty and the Framing of ‘Gender Ideology’ as Neocolonial Imposition, May 26-28th 2025
- PhD/ECR Workshop, Edinburgh Europa Institute, University of Edinburgh, Anti-Gender Ideologies and EU Digital Governance: Contesting Children’s Online Safety in the Age of Polycrisis, Apr 24-25th 2025
- BILETA Annual Conference, Goldsmiths University of London, Reimagining Digital Governance and Economies Through Feminist Digital Bills of Rights, Apr 2-4th 2025
- ECR Workshop, University of Kassel, Anti-Gender Ideologies in Children’s Online Safety Regulations: Reflecting on Socio-Legal and Transdisciplinary Approaches, Feb 20-21st 202
Karolin Rippich
Karolin Rippich is a PhD researcher at the Dublin City University Anti-Bullying Centre, investigating the intersection of children’s online safety, LGBTQ+ rights, and the evolving landscape of digital law amidst the global rise of anti-gender movements.
James O’Higgins Norman
Professor James O’Higgins Norman is UNESCO Chair on Bullying and Cyberbullying and a Professor of Clinical Sociology at DCU Institute of Education.
James leads DCU Anti-Bullying Centre, a University designated research centre which investigates bullying and digital safety in educational and organisational contexts
Maura Conway
Maura Conway is Paddy Moriarty Professor of Government and International Studies in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University (DCU); professor of Cyber Threats in CYTREC at Swansea University, UK; and Coordinator of VOX-Pol, a EU-funded project on violent online political extremism (voxpol.eu).
Edoardo Celeste
Edoardo Celeste is an Associate Professor of Law, Technology and Innovation at the School of Law and Government of Dublin City University. Edoardo is the Programme Chair of the Erasmus Mundus Master in Law, Data and Artificial Intelligence (EMILDAI), the Deputy-Director of the Dublin European Law Institute (DELI), the coordinator of the DCU Law and Tech Research Cluster, and a founding member of the Digital Constitutionalism Network.
Sinan Asci
Sinan Asci is a postdoctoral researcher at DCU Anti-Bullying Center, working on the Cilter DTIF project which is to develop a parental controls technology to assist with the detection of cyberbullying, self-harm, and grooming behaviours online.