Overview
- An Garda Síochána launched a Coco's Law class under its schools programme at Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School in Drimnagh, with Minister Hildegarde Naughton, Assistant Commissioner Catherina Gunne and Jackie Fox present.
- The lesson, developed with Webwise, explains Ireland’s 2020 online harm law and makes clear that students are legally accountable for what they do on their devices.
- It teaches that sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent is a crime, as are threatening or offensive messages sent online.
- Gardaí report more than 1,860 harmful communication incidents since 2023 and over 400 charges and summons in that period, while RTÉ reports 470 charges and summons under the law over five years.
- Jackie Fox, whose daughter Nicole “Coco” Fox died in 2018 after sustained abuse, said bringing the lesson into classrooms can spare other families similar pain.