Dr Eileen Culloty, Coordinator of EDMO Ireland, delivered the keynote address at Oide’s national conference for computer science teachers on April 10th, 2025, in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. Her keynote, Technology in the Service of People, urged educators to critically reconsider how the concept of “digital citizenship” is framed and taught in Irish schools.
Speaking during the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education, Dr Culloty acknowledged the value of teaching online safety, media literacy, and respect for others. However, she argued that the term “citizenship” is increasingly misplaced in the digital context. “Online, we’re not citizens of Google, Meta, or Amazon — we’re users they exploit,” she said.
She pointed to the mismatch between the expectations placed on young people to behave ethically online and the lack of accountability shown by major tech platforms. Highlighting examples like TikTok’s public default settings for children, Instagram’s disregard for evidence of harm to teens, and YouTube’s promotion of toxic content, she questioned why responsibility rests solely with users.
Dr Culloty called for a renewed understanding of how education and policy can work together to shape a more just and people-centred digital environment. “Digital citizenship must mean more than good behaviour online — it must include the right to a digital world that respects and protects the people in it,” she concluded.
