Protecting young people online in the EU was the focus of this year’s hotly contested Model Council of the European Union debate for secondary schools, which took place in Dublin Castle on 28 March.

Teams from schools across Ireland, each playing the role of an EU Member State, skilfully debated a proposed ban on social media for under-16s, with lively interventions and opposing views.

This debate was very timely as the broader conversation on protecting young people online is reaching a flash point in the media. Parents, educators, policy makers, and young people themselves are very concerned about the dangers they face online.

St. Columba’s College, Stranorlar in Co. Donegal won first place for their representation of Estonia during the debate. They will travel with their class to Strasbourg in October to take part in ‘Euroscola’, where they will become MEPs for a day in the European Parliament.

Joint second place was awarded to Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School, Co. Meath representing Poland and Loreto Secondary School, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary representing Slovenia.

Honourable mentions were given to the following schools: Manor House School, Raheny, Co. Dublin representing Italy, Our Lady’s Secondary School, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan representing Romania and Bailieborough Community School in Co. Cavan representing Czechia.

The European Union is working to ensure that we can trust the digital services we use, and we are safe and protected online.

The EU’s new Digital Services Act (DSA) will see that all digital services, including Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and search engines like Google, do more to protect users’ rights and stop the spread of illegal or inappropriate content.

If they don’t, they will face hefty fines by the EU.