MANCHESTER, U.K. — Irish media regulator Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM) will draw on “industry input” to help establish a framework for assessing platforms’ compliance with Ireland’s Online Safety Code and the EU’s Digital Services Act, news organization MLex reports.
According to MLex, a CnaM rep told attendees at the 2026 Global Age Assurance Standards Summit on Wednesday that the agency is “working to refine how it evaluates whether platforms are meeting age-assurance obligations, particularly in the context of protecting children online.”
MLex quotes Kamila Slavík, a senior CnaM official, as saying that CnaM is building a framework “grounded on external input.”
“We are keen to hear from industry practitioners and getting that feedback and insight to make sure that we build our internal framework for how we gather evidence, what type of evidence to look at, how do we assess it, et cetera,” Slavík said. “It’s around making sure that we speak with experts on the topic and make sure we have that expertise as part of how we make our assessments.”
The initiative inviting industry guidance is being conducted in partnership with the Age Check Certification Scheme and is expected to run for two to three months, MLex reports.
The report also notes that online platforms’ compliance with AV duties “will face sharper assessment under a project by the Irish watchdog to enhance its supervisory approach.”
As XBIZ reported last year, Ireland’s Online Safety Code came into force in July 2025. It requires adult sites headquartered in Ireland to implement age assurance measures beyond self-declaration.
Sites based elsewhere in the EU fall under the purview of the Digital Service Act (DSA). Digital service coordinators in member states cooperate to enforce DSA rules, including age assurance requirements.
In December, CnaM’s Digital Services Media Commissioner John Evans told legislators that Ireland and other EU states were preparing to expand enforcement of age verification regulations. In January, the Irish national parliament’s Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport debated regulation of online platforms and improving online safety, including calls for stricter age verification by adult sites.
