UN Says Protecting Children Online an 'Urgent Priority'
- On Friday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk demanded that governments and tech companies embed child safety into platform design, calling it an "urgent priority" that must be "done right."
- Design features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and persistent notifications cause real harm, Turk said, explaining that online threats result from business practices rather than being "innate or inevitable."
- His office released 10 guidelines entitled "Getting Children's Safety Online Right," demanding maximum data protection as a default setting and prohibiting the "micro-targeting" of children for commercial purposes.
- Turk cautioned that blanket social media bans are not a "one-off panacea" and could inadvertently push children toward less monitored, riskier platforms, leaving dangerous design choices unaltered.
- Global momentum for regulation is growing, with Australia, Austria, Denmark, and France testing age-based bans, though the United Nations emphasizes that true protection requires holding those responsible for harm to account.
21 Articles
21 Articles
The UN human rights chief calls for better safeguarding of children's rights online. According to Volker Türk, both countries and companies must do more to protect them from the risks they face on the internet, for example regarding privacy and their mental health. The UN organization is therefore issuing a series of guidelines.
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