It is estimated that one in three Internet users worldwide is under 18 years of age. While the digital environment offers new opportunities for the realization of children’s rights, it also poses risks that lead to different forms of violence and harm. These include, but are not limited to:

• cyberbullying and harassment;
• online sexual exploitation and abuse;
• exposure to violent and sexual content;
• promotion of suicide and self-harm;
• hate speech;
• discrimination, racism, and xenophobia;
• trafficking and smuggling;
• recruitment into criminal, armed, or violent extremist groups;
• economic exploitation;
• marketing of harmful or inappropriate goods and services;
• fraud and identity theft.

The lack of comprehensive data on violence against children in the digital environment remains a challenge. But the data that already exist on children’s exposure to violence and harm online are alarming.

Moving forward, the following key steps are needed:

Build a Safe Digital Environment for Children Through Strong Legal Frameworks, Prevention, and Regulation of Emerging Technologies

• Align national laws with international child rights standards and integrate online protection into child protection systems.
• Close legal gaps on online sexual exploitation and abuse, including child sexual abuse material, livestreaming, grooming and sextortion, and criminal use of ICTs for trafficking or extremist recruitment. Ensure national human rights institutions or other regulators can address children’s rights in digital contexts.

• Require tech companies to conduct child rights due diligence and risk assessments, and to embed safety and privacy by design, including robust age verification systems, privacy-by-default settings, clear reporting obligations, and safeguards that place children’s rights and safety at the core of their business models, moving beyond voluntary measures.

   

Accelerate coordinated action and regulate emerging technologies

• Move faster to address evolving risks as children go online younger and more frequently. Adopt solutions that are applicable to the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence.

   

Adopt a victim and survivor-centered approach

• Strengthen investigation and prosecution of online crimes, supported by international cooperation and specialized training for law enforcement and judiciary.
• Ensure support for victims and access to justice, including accessible, child-friendly complaint and remedy mechanisms across relevant national authorities and within businesses.
• Avoid criminalizing most peer cyberbullying or consensual self-generated material; use child protection responses instead.

Empower children without shifting responsibility

• Provide evidence-based online safety education and digital literacy skills, while maintaining systemic responsibility for protection.
• Recognize digital spaces as sources of support, including helplines and reporting systems.
• Children have the right to influence all issues affecting them: Include children in the ideation, design, and implementation of solutions to address violence against children, including in the digital environment.