Geneva: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday called for more robust measures by both states and tech companies to make online platforms safer for children, and insisted on effective regulation, oversight, and accountability.
“The digital world that connects children to learning, community and creativity also exposes them to real risks to their safety, privacy and wellbeing,” Turk said in a statement.
He added that online harms to children’s safety, privacy, and well-being are not innate or inevitable, but result from design choices and business practices that undermine safety. These include addictive design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and persistent notifications from apps.
“Enhancing protection of children online is an urgent priority that we need to make sure not only gets done, but that it gets done right,” he said, Xinhua news agency reported.
Turk stressed that blanket social media bans are not a panacea for what is a multifaceted issue. He said that simply limiting access to unsafe platforms cannot be the endpoint in protecting children. “We need much wider action, by governments and companies, to ensure that the platforms themselves are made safer by design, that data is protected, that those responsible for harm can be held to account, and that children’s rights and needs are fully respected throughout.”
He pointed out that states need to require tech companies to embed safety into their platforms by design, instead of shifting the burden to parents and children.
The UN Human Rights Office guidelines suggest measures, including guardrails around age verification processes, mandatory child rights impact assessments, and the involvement of children when defining regulatory responses. These steps should be backed up by mandated transparency, strengthened oversight and accountability for companies, and access to remedies for children whose rights are violated.
“Whatever regulations are adopted, it is essential to avoid inadvertently causing further harm. For example, age verification done wrong can both fail at its goal and endanger the privacy of both kids and adults,” Turk said.
He also noted that experience so far shows bans can be easily circumvented and expressed concern that such bans may end up pushing children to riskier, even less monitored platforms.
(IANS)
