YouthDig participants urge stronger youth role in shaping digital policy at EuroDIG 2026

Youth participants at EuroDIG 2026 called for stronger protections around AI, surveillance, children’s rights, accessibility, labour conditions, and digital inclusion, while urging policymakers to involve young people more directly in shaping internet governance and digital policy.

The session focused on presenting the outcomes of YouthDig 2025, EuroDIG’s youth dialogue on internet governance, which brings together young participants from across Europe and neighbouring regions to discuss digital policy issues and draft collective policy messages.

Florence Ranson opened the session by explaining that the discussion aimed to provide a more detailed presentation of the youth messages developed during the YouthDig programme. Frances Douglas-Thompson, member of the EuroDIG Programme Committee, described YouthDig as a preparatory process that combines policy discussions, capacity-building activities, and long-term community-building among young people interested in internet governance.

Organisers said YouthDig 2025 received around 400 applications and brought together 30 participants onsite in Brussels from diverse academic, professional, and geographic backgrounds. Participants included students, academics, civil servants, local politicians, and representatives from public institutions.

The programme included preparatory webinars and in-person discussions focused on AI, online child safety, AI in public services, healthcare, environmental impacts of digital technologies, disinformation, state surveillance, internet shutdowns, and democratic resilience.

Somaya Louhmadi, YouthDIG organiser/presenter, explained that one part of the programme involved crisis simulations addressing deepfakes and AI-driven election manipulation scenarios, while other sessions focused on privacy, cookies, and digital rights from a human rights perspective.

YouthDIG representatives Cecile Vicquery and Liana Vasil then presented the collective policy messages drafted during the event. Participants highlighted concerns surrounding data ownership, profiling, surveillance, algorithmic bias, workplace protections, and AI’s impact on vulnerable groups.

The youth messages also called for stronger digital literacy, protections for children’s data, mental health support related to social media use, accessibility for persons with disabilities and older users, improved rural connectivity, and greater transparency around AI-generated content.

Participants further raised concerns about the environmental and labour impacts associated with digital infrastructure and AI supply chains, including the working conditions of content moderators and resource extraction workers.

On disinformation and AI-generated content, the youth group proposed stronger media literacy initiatives, clearer labelling of AI-generated images and videos, and safeguards against harmful uses of AI systems.

Responding to the youth presentations, Fabrizia Benini of the European Commission said young people’s perspectives should play a more direct role in policymaking and linked the discussion to broader EU youth dialogue initiatives and debates on human-centric digital transformation.

Sophie Kwasny of the Council of Europe highlighted the participants’ focus on power structures, vulnerability, surveillance, and social consequences of digital governance. She also encouraged young people to make use of existing legal and institutional frameworks related to privacy, data protection, and human rights.

Both speakers stressed that youth participation should go beyond symbolic representation and involve meaningful co-design of digital policy processes.

The discussion also reflected on the challenges of reaching consensus within multistakeholder discussions. Participants explained that differences in educational, cultural, and stakeholder backgrounds sometimes made agreement on specific policy solutions difficult, particularly around normative questions linked to regulation and digital rights.

The session concluded with calls for young people to remain active in digital policy debates, build stronger networks, and continue engaging with existing institutional and governance processes.

EuroDIG 2026 takes place on 26 and 27 May at the Charlemagne Building of the European Commission in Brussels under the theme ‘European Voices for the Future of the Internet – Celebrating 20 Years of .eu and the Beginning of a New Internet Governance Era’.

Digital Watch Observatory is following EuroDIG 2026 through a dedicated event page, featuring session information and reporting from Brussels.

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