KESS - Online Safety for Young & Disabled Persons

1.30pm: Welcome

1.35pm: Opening Remarks

1.45pm: Young people’s social media use: Experiences of illegal and/or harmful behaviours Prof Michelle Butler & Prof Dirk Schubotz, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast

This presentation aims to inform Assembly consideration of statutory and non-statutory efforts aiming to reduce children and young people's exposure to illegal and harmful behaviour on social media, including Assembly deliberations regarding the forthcoming Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill. It sets out key findings arising from responses to the 2025 Young Life and Times (YLT) survey, which for the first time had explored 16-year-olds' experiences in Northern Ireland of illegal and/or harmful behaviours on social media, their help-seeking behaviour and support they had received in schools and elsewhere. YLT is an annual representative survey of 16-year olds undertaken in Northern Ireland since 2003, which routinely informs the work of agencies in the statutory and non-statutory sector that work with, and behalf of, young people in Northern Ireland and collects data on important policy indicators for The Executive Office, Department of Education, the Department of Justice, the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People and other organisations. Analysis of those 2025 YLT survey responses were reported in the “Screens, Safety and Social Media” research report - published in September 2025. This presentation synthesises the report’s findings, including that over half of the 16-year-olds surveyed had experienced illegal and/or harmful behaviours on social media. And looking more closely at those identified behaviours, the presentation shows that the most common included the posting/sharing of offensive, indecent or obscene material, the sharing of information without consent and online stalking: with over half of those surveyed feeling competent to deal with such behaviour on social media, while one-third did not. Beyond the 2025 report, the presentation highlights a follow-on study that is exploring attitudes amongst P7 children and 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland about social media legal restrictions. The research takes place after Australia introduced its severe restrictions for under 16s and similar measures are considered in other countries. The research is explained, including reporting timeframes, with the aim of supporting Assembly considerations in this area.

2.05pm: The cyber-victimisation of disabled adults in Northern Ireland: evidence from a mixed-methods study Dr Zhraa Alhaboby, School of Life Health and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), The Open University

In Northern Ireland, one in five people is disabled and in 2022/24 disability hate crime reached its highest level. This presentation focuses on cyber-victimisation of disabled people and its serious consequences on their physical, mental and social wellbeing, to highlight barriers to their protection and deepening inequalities. It shares findings from an academic study funded by The British Academy, which examined the scope and impact of cyber-victimisation of disabled people in Northern Ireland. It seeks to help inform Assembly deliberations about the forthcoming Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill and the Executive Disability Strategy 2025/30. The study used a mixed-methods design, combining an online survey of 113 disabled adults in Northern Ireland, with qualitative data from 17 participants who experienced cyber-victimisation, who were identified with support from Victim Support NI and the Hate Crime Advocacy Service, alongside social media campaigns. Its findings indicated cyber-victimisation was prevalent, harmful and underreported amongst those surveyed: 30.1% of them had experienced cyber victimisation, with 23.0% reporting incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic and 44% of the targeted individuals experienced significant impacts on their health. Moreover, qualitative findings highlighted the role of harmful public attitudes towards disability, including stigma, discrimination and narratives that devalue disabled lives. It also revealed most of the affected participants had not received formal support, and none had reported incidents to the police. The research highlighted a gap in addressing cyber-hate victims, providing insight into the complexity of the harms experienced by disabled people, including evidence to inform assessment of how cyber-victimisation affects disabled people’s health, access to support and engagement with justice processes. Findings indicated online targeting of disabled people was motivated by hate, yet loss of trust and fear contributed to underreporting, raising questions about how online harms are recognised within existing victim frameworks. It also identified a potential role for the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses of Crime in recognising online harms and their differential impact on disabled people within future strategies. The presentation also draws on research and expertise in this area in Great Britain - for example, evidence to the House of Commons that was cited in Whitehall policy documents and contributed to law reform consultations on communication offences and hate crime laws in England and Wales.

2.25pm: Discussion

2.55pm: Closing

3.00pm: Networking & Refreshments

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