About
Aidan O'Brien is a full-time Researcher and Analyst with the European Digital Media Observatory Ireland, part of the FuJo institute. His work involved social media regulation and platform compliance with EU and Irish laws, particularly relating to elections and civic integrity.
Before joining EDMO Ireland, Aidan worked as a research fellow at the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right, the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children Ireland.
Aidan holds an MA in Public Policy from University College Dublin, where he specialised in online regulation, information studies, and digital policy. Writing his thesis on platform content moderation policies and international human rights law. He has also studied Open Source Intelligence Analysis and Digital Forensics with the Knight Centre of Journalism in the Americas and the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Research Lab.
Before his return to education in 2020, Aidan worked in Film and TV post-production, including an extensive career in broadcast journalism with CNN, Sky News, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg News, RTÉ as well as an edit producer with the BBC.
Publications
Analysing Claims Of Electoral Interference During The Irish and EU Elections
Type: Report
Published: Institute of Strategic Dialogue
Authors: Aidan O'Brien, Aoife Gallagher
Date: 2024
From Free Speech to Violent Rhetoric: Elon Musk's X as a Threat to Irish Election Integrity
Type: Report
Published: EDMO Ireland
Authors: Aidan O'Brien, Dr Eileen Culloty
Date: 2025
Related Projects
EDMO Ireland is one of fourteen hubs established as part of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). Coordinated by Dr Eileen Culloty from Dublin City University (DCU), the EDMO Ireland consortium includes the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo), TheJournal FactCheck, NewsWhip, and the University of Sheffield. It is part-financed by the European Union to monitor and analyse disinformation; conduct factchecks and investigations; develop media literacy resources; as...