Despite growing political attention on children’s online safety, children themselves remain largely excluded from the debates shaping digital policy. This exclusion risks reducing digital rights to mere harm prevention, neglecting broader participation and systemic reforms crucial for a positive digital future.
- Children’s participation in digital policymaking is often tokenistic or absent.
- Social media bans for teens highlight performative rather than effective protections.
- Systemic issues like data privacy and manipulative platform design remain unaddressed.
What happened
Recently, prominent political figures and organizations have intensified focus on children’s online safety, exemplified by France’s attempted teen social media ban and calls for a UN AI Child Safety Pledge. However, these initiatives largely exclude children’s voices from policy dialogues, with few opportunities for meaningful engagement.
In parallel, countries like Kenya are considering AI legislation lacking child-specific safeguards or consultation processes. This neglect reflects a broader global trend where children are treated as passive beneficiaries of protection efforts rather than active stakeholders with rights and perspectives.
Why it matters
This exclusion undermines the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which enshrines children’s rights to be heard. Without genuine participation, policies risk being superficial, focusing only on reducing visible harms rather than enabling children’s digital rights and positive experiences online.
Quick policy measures such as blanket social media bans fail to address underlying challenges like manipulative platform design, privacy violations, and digital authoritarianism. Such approaches can inadvertently harm children by restricting their access to essential digital communities and resources.
What to watch next
Moving forward, attention should turn to elevating children and youth as central participants in digital policymaking to create more informed, balanced, and rights-respecting frameworks. Youth-led groups advocating for systemic changes will be important voices to watch in this space.
Policy developments around AI and digital platforms in regions like Kenya and globally will be critical tests for how seriously children’s digital rights are taken beyond rhetorical commitments. The effectiveness of proposed protections will hinge on their ability to uphold privacy, agency, and inclusive participation.