Online opportunities for children and risks are not mutually exclusive, but the right balance is difficult to find. One could argue that risks (exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, age-inappropriate advertising, data misuse) are higher than benefits (socialising with peers, expressing themselves through the creation of online content, seeking information ).
Definetely, the risks can affect children’s well-being and undermine their right to privacy. Child online protection is a global challenge,
With 1 and one in three children with Internet access at home, the Internet has become an integral part of children’s lives, presenting many possibilities for children and young people to communicate, learn, socialize and play, exposing children to new ideas and more diverse sources of information, opening opportunities for political and civic participation for children to thrive, be creative, and meaningfully contribute to a better society.
With more than 1 billion children away from their school building and learning remotely in 2020 and into 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of meaningful connectivity as (in many cases) the viable means for access to basic education, social interactions, and access to help and support services. Accessible and affordable connectivity is increasingly a determinant of equal opportunity for children in particular for those who are left behind in current systems – whether because of poverty, disability, race, ethnicity, gender, displacement or geographic isolation. ICTs can help them fulfil their educational potential, facilitate their social inclusion, and amplify their voices in civic participation – pursuant to their rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC).
While supporting and promoting children’s rights, the same online environment may expose children to risks, some of which can translate into potential harms. In April 2020 alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) registered four million reports of suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online, compared to one million for the same period in 2019. Child online protection therefore seeks to reduce risks and protect children from harms they may encounter online. These include:
Sources:
Definetely, the risks can affect children’s well-being and undermine their right to privacy. Child online protection is a global challenge,
With 1 and one in three children with Internet access at home, the Internet has become an integral part of children’s lives, presenting many possibilities for children and young people to communicate, learn, socialize and play, exposing children to new ideas and more diverse sources of information, opening opportunities for political and civic participation for children to thrive, be creative, and meaningfully contribute to a better society.
With more than 1 billion children away from their school building and learning remotely in 2020 and into 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of meaningful connectivity as (in many cases) the viable means for access to basic education, social interactions, and access to help and support services. Accessible and affordable connectivity is increasingly a determinant of equal opportunity for children in particular for those who are left behind in current systems – whether because of poverty, disability, race, ethnicity, gender, displacement or geographic isolation. ICTs can help them fulfil their educational potential, facilitate their social inclusion, and amplify their voices in civic participation – pursuant to their rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC).
While supporting and promoting children’s rights, the same online environment may expose children to risks, some of which can translate into potential harms. In April 2020 alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) registered four million reports of suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online, compared to one million for the same period in 2019. Child online protection therefore seeks to reduce risks and protect children from harms they may encounter online. These include:
- content risks: exposure to inaccurate or incomplete information, inappropriate or even criminal content such as exposure to adult/extremist/violent/gory content, self-abuse and self-harm related content, destructive and violent behaviour, radicalization or subscribing to racist or discriminatory ideas;
- contact risks from adults or peers: harassment exclusion, discrimination, defamation and damage to reputation, and sexual abuse and exploitation including extortion, grooming (sexual), child sexual abuse material, trafficking and sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism as well as extremist recruitment;
- contract risks: exposure to inappropriate contractual relationships, children’s consent online, embedded marketing, online gambling, as well as violation and misuse of personal data such as hacking, fraud and identity theft, scams, profiling bias;
- conduct risks: such as sharing of self-generated sexual content or risks characterized through hostile and violent peer activity such as cyberbullying, stalking, exclusion and harassment.
Sources:
- ITU. 2020. Measuring digital development: Facts and figures
- UNICEF. 2020. Digital civic engagement by young people UNICEF. 2020
- Pandemic participation: youth activism online in the COVID-19 crisis Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. 2021. Children as agents of positive change
- NCMEC. 2020. CyberTipline 2020: Rise in Online Enticement and Other Trends From Exploitation Stats
- Livingstone and Stoilova. 2021. The 4Cs: Classifying Online Risk to Children.
- OECD. 2021. Children in the digital environment: Revised Typology Of Risks
- ITU. 2021. Policy brief Keeping children safe in the digital environment: The importance of protection and empowerment www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Cybersecurity/Documents/COP/20-00802_COP-Policy_Brief.pdf
- At the global level, one-in-three Internet users is a child under 18 years of age.
- Over 1.5 billion children were affected by the closure of educational institutions at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. More than a third of young people in 30 countries report being cyberbullied, with 1-in-5 skipping school because of it.
- Some 80 per cent of children in 25 countries report feeling in danger of sexual abuse or exploitation online.
- In 2020, NCMEC CyberTipline received 21.7 million reports of suspected CSAM, an increase of 28 per cent from 2019.
Source: OECD ILibrary
What can we do?
Some countries developed screen time guidelines for children according to the child's age, a source of inspiration:
Source: Emotional Well-being in the Digital Age, OECD , pages 216 - 217
Resources:
- How exposed should young children be to digital technologies? - The OECD Education Podcast
- Children in the digital environment, OECD Digital Economy Papers, 2021
- Empowering Young Children in the Digital Age, OECD Starting Strong, 2023
- Impacts of technology use on children, OECD Education Working Papers no. 195, 2019
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