Issue
We are witnessing one of the most significant transformations in human history. Artificial intelligence, social media, and digital technologies are shaping how children learn, communicate, play, and understand the world. While these innovations have created extraordinary opportunities, they have also introduced new risks that no previous generation has faced at this scale.

Around the world, millions of children are growing up in digital environments that were largely designed to maximize engagement rather than prioritize their safety, privacy, well-being, or healthy development. Children can encounter cyberbullying, online exploitation, privacy violations, manipulative design practices, misleading AI-generated content, and other online harms that may affect their confidence, education, relationships, and future opportunities.

Technology should empower children—not expose them to avoidable risks. Childhood should never become the price of technological progress.

Every child, regardless of where they live, deserves to grow up in a digital world that respects their rights, protects their personal information, supports their mental well-being, and places their safety above commercial interests. The internet should be a place where children can learn, create, and connect with confidence—not one where families are left to navigate rapidly evolving technologies without meaningful safeguards.

We therefore call upon governments, international organizations, technology companies, educators, researchers, civil society, and communities around the world to work together to establish stronger global standards for child safety in the digital age. These efforts should promote age-appropriate design, robust privacy protections, transparent AI systems, effective reporting tools, safer default settings, accountability for platforms, and ongoing collaboration to address emerging risks as technology evolves.

The digital world is no longer optional—it is part of childhood itself. The decisions made today will shape the lives of billions of children tomorrow. Together, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to help ensure that innovation and child safety advance side by side.

Protecting children online is not only a technological challenge—it is a shared global responsibility.