WS #53 Promoting Children’s Rights and Inclusion in the Digital Age

Summary

This panel discussion focused on promoting children’s rights and inclusion in the digital age, addressing the challenges and opportunities of ensuring child online protection. Panelists from various countries shared insights on their national strategies and initiatives to safeguard children in the digital space.

Key topics included cyberbullying prevention, online harassment, and digital literacy programs. Participants highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder approaches involving governments, tech companies, civil society, and children themselves. Several countries reported efforts to implement digital literacy curricula in schools and provide training for law enforcement agencies on cyber-related crimes against children.

The discussion emphasized the need for culturally appropriate and locally relevant interventions, including resources in local languages and consideration for children with disabilities. Panelists stressed the importance of empowering children with digital skills while also protecting them from online threats.

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence were discussed as both potential tools for enhancing child online safety and as sources of new challenges. The panel emphasized the need for safety-by-design approaches in developing new technologies and digital platforms.

Recommendations for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) included prioritizing global collaborations to develop localized digital safety resources, encouraging more youth participation in policy discussions, and implementing a global accountability mechanism for countries’ efforts in child online protection. The panel concluded by calling for greater inclusion of children’s voices in future IGF discussions and policy-making processes related to their digital rights and safety.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Strategies and initiatives in different countries to protect children online and promote digital literacy

– Challenges in implementing child online protection, including infrastructure limitations and lack of awareness

– The need for multi-stakeholder collaboration and localized approaches

– Importance of addressing mental health impacts of social media on children

– Recommendations for IGF to promote child safety and inclusion

The overall purpose of the discussion was to examine current efforts to protect children’s rights and safety in the digital age, share best practices from different countries, and provide recommendations to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on promoting child online safety and inclusion.

The tone of the discussion was collaborative and solution-oriented. Participants shared insights from their countries and organizations in a constructive manner. There was a sense of urgency about the importance of the issue, but also optimism about the potential for positive change through coordinated efforts. The tone became more focused and action-oriented towards the end as participants provided specific recommendations.

Speakers

– Radhika Gupta: Podar International School

– Gabriel Karsan: Coordinator of the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance, founding director of Emerging Youth Initiative

– Speaker 1 (Ahitha): Coordinator of India Youth IGF

– Aishath Naura Naseem: Representative of Women in Tech Maldives, part of Maldives IGF

– Speaker 3 (Janatu): Department of Public Administration, Kumile University

– Samaila Atsen Bako: Director of communication at Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria

Additional speakers:

– Madhav Pradhan

– Mary Uduma

– Sasha Nandlal

Child Online Protection and Digital Inclusion: A Global Perspective

This panel discussion, moderated by Radhika Gupta, brought together experts from various countries to address the critical issue of promoting children’s rights and inclusion in the digital age. The conversation focused on the challenges and opportunities in ensuring child online protection, with participants sharing insights on national strategies and initiatives to safeguard children in the digital space.

Key Themes and Initiatives

1. Digital Literacy and Education

A primary focus of the discussion was the importance of digital literacy initiatives. Ahitha highlighted India’s National Digital Literacy Mission and Information Security Education and Awareness Program. Naza emphasised community-based training for children, parents, and teachers in the Maldives. Samila Asembaku shared Nigeria’s approach of creating cyber clubs and ambassadors in schools, as well as efforts to provide power to universities using solar panels. Gabriel Karsan discussed Tanzania’s last mile connectivity program and school connectivity initiatives, stressing the implementation of competency-based digital literacy skills in education across Africa.

The panel agreed on the crucial role of digital literacy in empowering children to navigate online spaces safely. However, there were differences in the specific approaches proposed, reflecting the need for tailored strategies in different contexts.

2. Legal and Policy Frameworks

The discussion highlighted various legal and policy initiatives across countries:

– India’s POCSO Act 2012 for protecting children from sexual offenses

– Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act

– Tanzania’s strategy 2050 and its focus on youth empowerment in digital structures

– The importance of adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 25

Panelists stressed the need for comprehensive legal frameworks that address the rapidly evolving digital landscape and protect children’s rights online.

3. Multi-stakeholder Collaboration

The discussion emphasised the necessity of collaboration between various stakeholders. Examples included:

– India’s partnership with Women in Tech Org Northeast chapter

– Nigeria’s collaboration with UNICEF for the Digital Transformation Project

– Maldives’ work with UNICEF and UNDP for awareness programs

Gabriel Karsan highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships and engaging telecom companies and academia in community-driven approaches. The audience contributed to this point, stressing the need for collaboration between corporate and public sectors in education. There was broad agreement on the value of multi-stakeholder approaches involving governments, tech companies, civil society organizations, and children themselves.

4. Mental Health Concerns

An unexpected point of consensus emerged around the need to address mental health issues related to children’s social media use. An audience member raised concerns about the lack of government focus on this issue, while Samila Asembaku emphasised the importance of observing behavioural changes in children and encouraging more physical engagement with peers. This highlighted a potential gap in comprehensive approaches to child online protection.

5. Localisation and Cultural Relevance

The panel stressed the importance of culturally appropriate and locally relevant interventions. This included developing resources in local languages and considering the needs of children with disabilities. Gabriel Karsan and Naza partially agreed on the need for localised approaches, with Karsan focusing on infrastructure development and Naza emphasising the development of localised digital safety resources through global collaborations.

6. Challenges in Implementation

Several challenges were identified in implementing effective child online protection measures:

– The rapid pace of technological change outpacing policy development

– The need for more widespread awareness and education

– The challenge of reaching rural and underserved areas

– The issue of shared devices and the generational digital divide

– The need for capacity building for law enforcement agencies to better handle cyber cases involving children

Recommendations for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

The discussion concluded with several recommendations for the IGF:

1. Adopt global standards for child online protection, based on frameworks like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 25.

2. Prioritise global collaborations to develop localised digital safety resources.

3. Encourage more youth participation in policy discussions.

4. Implement a global accountability mechanism for countries’ efforts in child online protection.

5. Create working groups for inclusive and safe technology development, considering accessibility design.

6. Include children’s voices directly in future IGF discussions.

7. Implement mandatory rights audits for digital platforms to ensure child safety.

8. Promote the use of correct terminology, such as “child sexual abuse material” instead of “child pornography.”

9. Encourage limits on children’s screen time and enforce age restrictions on digital platforms.

10. Support ongoing research and dialogue as the digital landscape continues to evolve.

Conclusion

The panel discussion highlighted the complex and multifaceted nature of child online protection. While there was broad agreement on the importance of digital literacy, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and the need for both global standards and localised approaches, differences emerged in the specific strategies proposed. The conversation emphasised the urgency of action, with Radhika Gupta powerfully stating, “We cannot afford to fold our arms or throw them in the air in despair. The stakes are too high and the future of our children demands action, innovation and accountability.”

The discussion underscored the need for a paradigm shift towards “safety by design, privacy by design, child rights by design” in digital spaces. It also highlighted the importance of distinguishing between children and youth in digital policies, recognising the unique vulnerabilities and rights of children.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, ongoing dialogue, research, and collaborative action will be crucial to ensuring that children can safely and meaningfully participate in the digital world while being protected from its potential harms. The role of initiatives like India’s I4C (Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center) in nationwide coordination efforts for cybercrime prevention was noted as an example of proactive measures in this direction.

Radhika Gupta: one. Good afternoon, everyone. It is an honor to welcome you to this very important discussion promoting children’s rights and inclusion in the digital age. Today, we address one of the most urgent challenges and opportunities of time, ensuring that children who are the most vulnerable members of our society are protected, empowered, and are included in the ever-evolving digital landscape. The journey towards child online protection has been one of the progress, progressive one, and very awakening. The Child Online Protection Initiative by the ITU laid a foundation with its five strategic pillars which were inspired by the global cyber security agenda. This was followed up by the We Protect Alliance which provided a critical framework in a form of model national response, helping member states and countries to develop the necessary capabilities to tackle online threats against children. A ground-breaking milestone came in 2022 with the release of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, general comment number 25, on children’s rights in the digital environment. This document effectively dispelled the notion often cited in developing countries that child online safety is an emerging issue. It’s offered as a global standard to reframe child online protection as a universal and agent obligation. However, as we reflect on the last two decades of digital transformation culminating into the next year’s WSIS plus 20, we must acknowledge that child online safety is now critical than ever. At the beginning of digital age, the issue was not as pronounced as it is now. Today, however, the risks are real, persistent and evolving. We cannot afford to fold our arms or throw them in the air in despair. The stakes are too high and the future of our children demands action, innovation and accountability. We already possess the tools, the frameworks and the collaborative mechanism to protect children online, but these must be implemented with the intentionality and commitment thereof. The way forward requires a paradigm shift towards safety by design, privacy by design, child rights by design, those forming the fundamentals. These efforts cannot succeed in isolation. The complexity of the digital landscape demands robust multi-stakeholder approach, bringing together governments, tech companies, civil society, the community or the society at large and the children as main stakeholders to the discussion table. At the same time, we must resist the tendency to combine children with youth. Children require unique protection, tailored strategies and recognition of their peculiar vulnerabilities and rights. So, to help us unpack this conversation this afternoon, we have five aspects for the panel discussion. We have, I will give them the floor to introduce themselves, a minute each. We have some online, so it’s a hybrid format we’re using. We have Naha, Janatu, Gabrielle, and Samayla. So, Ahitha first.

Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Hi, everyone. Good afternoon. Good to see you all post-lunch. I am Ahitha. I’m the coordinator of India Youth IGF. It’s a platform recognized by the UN IGF that works extensively on empowering young people in the space of Internet governance in the country, in India. And in that regard, there’s been a lot of interaction with young individuals across the country from different cultures and economies. And I hope to present that perspective today in our discussion.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you. Yeah.

Aishath Naura Naseem: Hi, I’m Naura from Maldives. I’m representing Women in Tech Maldives, an NGO, a civil society organization in Maldives. Also, I’m a part of Maldives IGF, which we recently was established. We are working, a community group, yeah, actually, so we are also working to establish, strengthen, formulated, sort of trying to establish a safer digital environment, especially for the kids as well. And the thing is that since we are a geographically disposed island, our component in the awareness section is quite high. So looking forward for this panel discussion.

Radhika Gupta: Right. Thank you. Janalchoo? Good afternoon, everybody. I’m Janalchoo. I’m representing Women in Tech Maldives, an NGO, a civil society organization in Maldives. Also, I’m a part of Maldives IGF, which we recently was established. So looking forward for this panel discussion. Right. Thank you. Janalchoo?

Speaker 3: This is the Department of Public Administration, Kumile University.

Radhika Gupta: Okay, Gabriel.

Gabriel Karsan: Salaams, everybody. My name is Gabriel Karsan. I’m the coordinator of the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance, but also active in the space of the Africa Youth IGF, as well as the founding director of the Emerging Youth Initiative. My work intersects in policy, society, as well as the role of young people and children in shaping the digital institution. I’m looking forward to our discussion.

Radhika Gupta: Right. Samayla.

Samaila Atsen Bako: Thank you very much. My name is Samaila Atsen Bako. I am the security evangelist at Code for Africa, which is an African-wide nonprofit. I’m also the director of communication at the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria. So most of my work revolves around user awareness, education, training, policy development, and things like that. I’m looking forward to learning from everyone here in this session. Thank you.

Radhika Gupta: Okay. So thank you, my wonderful panelists. We all come from different backgrounds and all that. We would like to understand what actually is happening in your country to ensure that children and young people are safeguarded. For instance, Maldives, what strategies do you have in place to check cyberbullying, online harassment in general, online grooming, and every other thing? Thank you. They didn’t hear? It’s not working. It’s working. Okay. So, who is taking first?

Aishath Naura Naseem: I’m fine. Okay, that’s fine. In the context of Maldives actually, everything is sort of new over there because we are still on the, you know, the baby steps. Like, we are growing our cyber space over there. So, like I said before, as we are dispersed in, you know, small islands and all, reaching out to our communities is always a challenge for us. So, we are trying to formulate or come up with programs that we can actually accommodate our women and children. So, my organization is also mostly a part of this. We are working on conducting different awareness sessions on cyber safety, online safety, how to secure their digital devices, how to make sure that the internet that they are browsing is safer for them, and also to empower women in the island communities as well. And apart from that, for children also, we are actually, as a government, is working on implying, you know, formulating the strategies that are required for the cyber space and the digital space. As an organization of a community-led organization, we are working with, you know, our schools, our education system to make the children understand, like, what is there out in the digital space, actually. How they can be, how can they identify if they are being targeted for cyber bullying, how they can identify if they are being, you know, like perpetrators are waiting for them out there, and how they can identify if they are being targeted for cyber harassment or any such, because reaching out to our communities are challenging as well. always because we literally have to travel to islands in order to aware these kids and parents and teachers and local communities as well. So as an organization, a community-led organization, we work, we have been actually working with these UNICEF, UNDP, such organizations to conducting different awareness programs and such STEM related programs where we are educating our kids to, you know, how they can come up with critical thinking solutions like through coding and simple programmings and stuff. Yeah, that’s it.

Radhika Gupta: Smila, am I putting you on the spot?

Samaila Atsen Bako: I was just gonna say I wasn’t expecting myself to go next, but it’s fine. It’s fine. So I didn’t mention this earlier apart from Nigeria. So in our country, I would say it’s a bit similar to what the previous speaker just said. We still have a bit of foundational layers being put in place. So for instance, about six months ago, if I recall correctly, we had a session with one of the, with the telecoms industry regulator, what we call the National Communications Commission, sorry, Nigerian Communications Commission, and they’re putting together like, operating procedures basically for child protection and they wanted external stakeholders to be involved. So civil society, the industry experts and so on to contribute to the drafting of those processes. And so we’re part of that session. But even before then, I would say about, if I’m not mistaken, two or three years ago, we had a session with, organized by META, MTN, I think it was NICMEC or ICMEC. and it’s a global organization that does stuff around child and women protection and stuff like that. So we’ve had some of these engagements. And so from my organization’s perspective, and by organization I mean the Sabah Security Exposition of Nigeria, we tend to be involved in these conversations to provide our insights from the Sabah Security perspective as professionals. But then again, as internet users and as parents or elder siblings or guardians, we do have kids that were aware of using the internet and we tend to know some of the things they experience. So even outside the Sabah Security perspective, we also have that end user perspective. So we try to share from these areas and we go a step further. So we also engage students. We tend to go to schools. I mean, we’ve been doing this since maybe, I think 2015 or so, going to high schools, also universities to engage with the students, but also to engage with their teachers. Because what we’ve found out now is that especially the kids in the private school, they tend to get easier access to gadgets and the internet at a younger age because they are more likely from well-to-do homes. And so we go to those private schools, we engage with them. And we try to explain to the students, these are some of the things you need to be aware of. Internet is nice and fun, but they are disissued. So we’ve done that, we’ve tried to engage the government. And I think those are the little contributions we’ve done from our perspective and we continue to do in the near year as well.

Radhika Gupta: Okay, I don’t see that to be little, that’s some progress, so thank you. Gabrielle? If we don’t have Gabrielle ready, can we have Janatu? Hello everyone, this is Janatu for Dose. When it comes to our case. in this digital age, the whole stratosphere of technology and the Internet. Hello? Hello. Is that Gabriel speaking? Yes, I was speaking. Gabriel, can you please pause? Janatu has taken the floor, so wait for her to finish, then you take it up. Thank you. Okay.

Speaker 3: Hello, everyone. My topic is the future of learning digitalization in primary education for sustainable development in Bangladesh. Here, I would like to express the entire challenges regarding digitalization in primary education, and globally, the digital transformation of education is changing the learning experiences, pedagogical approaches, and institutional administration, integrating the newest digital resources into the educational institutions aims to establish a networked environment that enables students to learn in a digital format. Therefore, digitalization information facilitates students’ ability to responsibly protect the environment and the economy and to base their judgments on factual knowledge. This relationship supports a comprehensive and transformative high-quality education that affects learning outcomes and content. ICT contributes to education and human capital development. Furthermore, the challenges occur due to COVID-19, which broke out in Bangladesh in March 11, 2020. In that sense, since then, the widespread closure of schools in response to COVID-19 has hindered traditional modes of education and the focus of… institutional activities has switched to the online approach. In the recent years, actually, there has been widespread recognition of the need of digital competency at different educational levels. With its creative solution to enduring problems in education, such as access to high-quality education, unequal student-teachers ratio, and geographic constraint, this digital revolution is significant for poor nations like Bangladesh. As a part of National Digital Bangladesh Goal, actually, this is the election manifesto of our previous government, that is Awami government, which was introduced in 2009. Bangladesh has started towards full digital integration in education. My paper actually explores how digital technologies can improve the learning results and democratize the access to education resources and transform education delivery. And now, I would like to focus on the digitalization of education. In modern society, heavily relies on technology. The digital revolution of the, actually, in Bangladesh perspective, it was 1990. Here, in that year, in the education system, digital transformative approach were taken into account. Digital education integrates electronic content, e-learning, VR, and social media to modernize teaching and foster digital maturity. Innovations like…

Radhika Gupta: Janatu? Janatu? Okay. Yes, I think you would have to pause there for now. We’re focusing on what strategies are in place to ensuring that… Children and young people are not taking advantage of by predators. So what strategy do you have in Bangladesh? That is seen to cyber bullying that is seen to exploitation and abuse and all other forms of abuse to you Do you have? An intervention on that to share with us. Yes. Yes. I can you go to that for us. Thank you. Okay

Speaker 3: You know each each every each and every issue educational institution there must be a sexual harassment prevention cell And through this it was actually Developed in 2009 through a high court directives that each and every institution must have a sexual harassment prevention cell and through this each and every organization forms a sexual harassment prevention cell with five to nine members where majority majority are female and in most of the case the cyber bullying is done on on the perspective of the female and and harassment cell always working on this to resolve this issue and Actually, this is the gender issue and in in other sense we have lots of challenges like infrastructure It’s it’s it’s a pressing issue in for in perspective of Bangladesh because the infrastructural capacity is not so good good here and in if the government arrange a computer and Internet package, but there is lack of electricity in the rural areas of Bangladesh. There’s a great challenge for Bangladesh. Okay

Radhika Gupta: Thank you so much. I’m not to Gabriel Thank you so much for being with me, yes, just hang in there we’re coming back to you with two other submissions

Gabriel Karsan: Yes, thank you very much Children in Africa are increasingly exposed to elements of cyber bullying online exploitation as well as harmful content So I think it’s very important for us to be aware of this I might say, this is a global issue. We are not immune, even though we are in baby steps of creating our infrastructure and our policies, we are not immune to the different vulnerabilities of the cyberspace, especially towards children. Now we have almost 25, under 25 Africans who use the internet deeply in their day-to-day activities. It’s shaping the culture, and this is seen with post-modernism as well as with social media. In Tanzania, we are still developing a framework, but what has been done is that we have a strong regulatory authority that has deep technical standards that align with the global cross-border and online protection mechanism. Examples, an infrastructure that has IPsec, open communities, as well as a DNS protection system that really aligns with the local sector of protecting the content, but also we have a content policy that aligns on who has access to the internet and in what particular perspective, because it’s still a developing country with the infrastructure still being built. So in our child online protection framework, the critical step which has been done is merging lit-based community, where parents and educators and policy makers can just come together and exchange a particular real case scenario in that manner, because the first thing is that it’s also an issue that aligns the issue, because we have seen that with digital literacy and inclusion, particularly to young women, the cascading effect has been great. Even in rural areas where the internet is coming now, the access comes with a little new information of breaching the divide. And Tanzania has a school connectivity program, and the school connectivity program is a package that comes with. with digital literacy, where they have seen that protecting the child is important, but this is also done through giving them the skillset, giving them languages, so that when they partake or communicate and interact with technological systems, they have an awareness system. But also, we are building feedback loops, which should be open based on different demographics. And I think this is something that’s still in discussion for policy. I think I’ll end there now as we follow our discussion.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you, Gabriel. We’ll come back to you later. I heard you.

Speaker 1: Yes. So hi, everyone. When we talk about child rights online, so I’m gonna bring in a little bit from the harm’s perspective. But before that, Gabriel pointed out a lot around meaningful inclusion and what has already been, you know, with respect to access, that the challenge that we face. So this perspective that I’m going to share is through the interaction with the young people through the YIGF network in India. And a lot of the young people, I’m sure the issues also overlap to other countries, talk about how there is, of course, exposure to inappropriate content online. They do experience cyberbullying extensively. But there’s also unauthorized collection of their personal data. So there’s a lot of privacy violations. So what is the consent mechanism? Is there enough mechanisms to ensure that it’s clearly explained to them as to what is the data, why is it being used, and what kind of control that they have over it? In addition to this, we do see there could be situations of predators, you know, manipulating the mindsets. And then also we also come across targeted advertisement and a lot of misinformation. The other concern we see is for young people to like meaningfully be there on the online space, you need the right amount of digital literacy aspects. And I think that is something that a lot of the panelists before me have highlighted. So in India, from a cyber harm perspective, there are two key things that I want to highlight that the country is currently. doing in the I4C which is our Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center under the Ministry of Home Affairs is currently aimed at tackling cybercrime in a more coordinated aspect so they have a nationwide coordination where they have also come up with a cybercrime reporting portal which targets this is an accessible platform is something that you can also look up on the cybercrime.gov.in where individuals can report cybercrimes including those that are targeting young children around child pornography, online harassment and exploitation and cyberbullying. Further there are also dedicated resources that you can look into that provide you information on how to handle crimes around child abuse and grooming, trafficking among others. Then from a capacity building perspective they also provide training to law enforcement personal prosecutors and the judicially judicial officers and how to handle cybercrime investigations. Among this of course we do require collaboration with global organizations so they do ensure that there is best practice exchange with cross-border cybercrime developments. The last thing I want to highlight is the POSCO Act 2012 in India which is protecting children under 18 from sexual offenses including abuse, exploitation and harassment but I want to highlight the aspect that relates to the digital threats that young children the children pose that falls under this act which is which mentions that it criminalizes the use of children for creating, distributing and accessing child sexual abuse material as CISA material and includes various provisions for online grooming, harassment and cyber exploitation. Thank you.

Radhika Gupta: All right thank you for your interventions in that regard. I don’t know if I should probe further but then for the sake of time we’re going to go further but I just want to correct an impression there in terms of the terminology we no longer have child pornography. An abuse is an abuse. A child does not engage in pornography. So as much as possible, let’s change out. This is a platform we are educating people, so I just thought that I’ll bring that to the fore. So we go with our next round of submissions, but then I’m going to merge the two questions. So if you give us what your country, for instance, what’s India doing specifically to promote digital literacy among young people, then you also tell us what, maybe there’s an intervention to leverage on emerging technologies. What are some of those things? So you’re giving me two perspectives. You’re giving me digital literacy initiatives at country level to empower young people, because when we’re talking about child online safety and we’re just talking about protection, protection, protection, we are leaving out the provision and the participation aspect of things. So as much as possible, we need to take care of the three Ps as involved in child protection, just to make sure that we’re doing the right thing. So much as we are treating the harms and the threats to children, we need to also take care of empowerment. We need to take care of their skill sets in order for them to engage responsibly. So I’m coming to you. I don’t know who wants to take it first. I don’t want to be biased. Should I put you on the spot? Are you okay? So tell us, what digital literacy initiatives do you have in your country? And what are some of the emerging technology leverages that you’re doing in Maldives? Thank you.

Aishath Naura Naseem: In terms of promoting the digital literacy, I think like every other country, we are also still struggling to put the right thing in the right place as a country, because the technology is expanding way too fast,

Speaker 1: then we can reach it out. But as I mentioned before, my organization, the Women in Tech Maldives over there, we have… a huge role in establishing digital literacy among our people, our country, throughout. So we have, for kids, it’s like that you just can’t go and directly reach out to the kids. So we have to pass, you know, level by level, like just go and first educate their parents. What are the digital norms? How can you maintain safety? How can you ensure that the network that you are in connected is safe? How can you ensure that your devices are connected to safe networks? How you can ensure the security of the devices that you are eventually giving out to your child to use? So we have programs that we run across the country that we educate our community, we educate our parents, we educate our students, and I mean the kids, along with the teachers that they are daily life, maybe communicating with. So it’s like, it’s not easy because the whole thing becomes quite new for the community as well, because when we go and say our digital spaces, you have this and this and that over in the digital space, it is harmful. So to identify or to recognize the harmfulness in that particular area is quite challenging for the community people because obviously not enough literate in the digital space. So to literate them in the digital space, how they can identify that they are being targeted, how they can actually monitor the devices that the kids are using, how they can ensure the safety.

Aishath Naura Naseem: We do run several programs in our place to ensure the safety are maintained within the community itself.

Radhika Gupta: Okay, thank you. Gabriele, we’re coming to you, but then I’m also interested in hearing these initiatives that are even in the local language, because sometimes it’s not always English that the children understand. Do we have some of them in the local language? Do we have it in an accessible format, say, taken into consideration? children with disability. Those initiatives, if they are happening in your country, we would like you to share light on that. Then we can pick lessons from it going forward. We can work with that. Gabriel, over to you. Thank you. Okay, if I don’t have Gabriel, could we have Samaila, Nigeria?

Samaila Atsen Bako: Sure. Thanks for the question. I think the question is in two parts. Maybe I start with maybe what some of the things that I know the government has started doing around digital literacy and even emerging tech. I think a few years back, there was some effort to – there was some effort to do some level of digitization when it comes to the schools we have. Some of these interventions are not necessarily targeted towards just kids. It may also be the older children. I know there’s been effort, for instance, to provide power to universities using solar panels so that they can then leverage the technologies that have been provided in the school to improve their digital literacy. The current Minister of Communication and Digital Economy has been pushing for a lot of effort around the adoption and familiarity with AI. I know there’s a scheme, I think it’s the National AI Research Scheme, that was launched a few months ago. There’s been other efforts by him to pull together resources from the private sector and other places and even foreign people to support those efforts. I guess maybe it’s a bit soon to say how effective it has been or the results of such interventions, but I know that they exist. There are others by the National Information Technology Development Agency and other government processes trying to make things work somehow in terms of providing gadgets because they are not so affordable, providing even internet connectivity to some of these areas outside the main urban areas. I think another laudable effort by the government in Nigeria was when, I think about three years ago or so, when the sub-national governments, that is the state governments, came to an agreement to reduce the cost of the right-of-way, that is when, like the money you pay to lay fiber optic cables, and the goal was to slash the price from about 6,000, I think 6,000 Naira per, from as high as 6,000 Naira per meter to a maximum of 145 Naira per meter, and that obviously would lead to better internet penetration because the telecoms companies and the internet service providers can lay their cables to more areas and to spread connectivity to people living outside the urban centers. So I think those are some of the efforts by the government. Generally speaking, from the, what would I say, from the Sim Society perspective, where I come from, I know quite a number of organizations that are doing different kinds of digital safety, let’s say courses or trainings or webinars or sharing flyers, some level of awareness and education, and the goal is just to make sure people do understand more about technology, but also now learn about this side of things. And I think even from the, if you look at law enforcement now, there’s a bit more knowledge, you know, about electronic crime or online fraud and cyber crime and all that, but also from the digital harms perspective, where we have cyber bullying and online harassment, so there’s a bit more knowledge, although we’re hoping for better and more widespread awareness and even prosecution and things like that. to come on board. I think in Nigeria right now, the main laws that may be used when these things come up have to do with cybercrime acts that we have, as well as maybe the Child Rights Act and one or two others. But we’re hoping that this issue of digital literacy, you know, from the angle of the laws, of using technology, of being safe online, addressing these different stakeholders, we are hoping that things improve as time goes on. All right, thank you.

Radhika Gupta: I would have put you on the spot if you were from government, but it’s okay. Gabriel, are you ready? Yes, I’m ready. All right.

Gabriel Karsan: Yes, thank you. Based on our side, I think Tanzania has been going through a big reform in terms of building its strategy 2050, and they have highlighted the importance of having core agency of youth empowerment in the digital structure empowerment programs. So right now, we have a last mile connectivity program where we have tried to have 70% of the B country have fiber optic cabling, and these pass through schools, because in our culture, we come from a very oral culture, it’s still under the communal side of things to pass on knowledge. So school connectivity has come to enhance and more participation of the community, because it has boosted the centers where we are not only equipping children with the digital skills, but now also the teachers and the community members come to interact with technologies, because it is a big strategy that has been pushed by the government. But also in terms of pushing public partnerships, private, public, private partnerships. Now we have been working with different organizations, example, like China mobile, where they’re building a big backbone for connectivity to come to the country, but also with a simple start-up which is building an open-source technological system called KaiOS. This is in Swahili, and it has all the local initiatives including access to literacy materials online and can be used on a simple feature phone. This has been a project that has been able to reach almost a million young people. With the use of the local language and the community element and the funding mechanism that has some subsidies from the government, it has boosted more inclusion. But in terms of the human rights angle of equipping children’s rights such as privacy and freedom of expression and access to information, we still have a big technical gap because we are still building quite the foundation of the framework. And if we are to be realistic in this digital realm, the emerging technologies example, artificial intelligence and the high computational needs, they will need us to really catapult fast and a big investment has to be made in the core infrastructure which is the young children. Tanzania also has pushed for a change in competency-based digital literacy skills being part and parcel of every educational program starting from next year. So I think these are things that maybe in five years we might see catapulate. But in terms of good policy, I also come from the age where there was a subsidy in connectivity elements where I also got to enjoy the benefits of cheap connection and affordable internet. This has given me the privilege of addressing you all today. So I think these policy intersections with a very local lens tend to breed fruits.

Radhika Gupta: All right. Thank you. I like the way you situated in this conversation. Do we have you? Can you take the floor? Okay.

Speaker 1: So I think a lot of very good points have already been covered. So I was just trying to take a note of… what exactly I could add, which is a little more from, in terms of the initiatives that are happening. Okay, so some of the things which have been talked about are happening in India. Yes. We need you to reiterate it, because we are looking at countries and what they are doing. All right, all right. So we, I think Gabrielle also spoke about digital literacy programs. So when we look at India, right, there has been, in the last couple of, in the last decade, for example, the internet adoption has increased tremendously. And especially with, right now, we have the unified payment system, payment interface, UPI is what we call it, and a lot of the transactions in the country are online. So I don’t mean talking, here I don’t talk about just supermarkets, for example, or some kind of transactions with malls. I’m talking about even the street hawkers, for that matter. Everybody does transactions through the unified payment interface. So everything is digital. And that brings us to the main concern about does everybody have the right set of digital skill sets to ensure that they are safe, they are secure, and they’re meaningfully accessing the internet in the country. So just recently, we have the National Digital Literacy Mission, NLDM is what we call it. And this initiative was launched to ensure that the citizens, especially those in rural and underserved areas, have the necessary skills to access digital technology and participate overall in the digital economy. But since earlier in the first question that was addressed to me, I spoke about threats. I also want to highlight from a cyber security skill set perspective. There is the Information Security Education and Awareness Program, which is actually a free of cost bunch of courses for you to have the right set of skills to navigate the internet safely. And if you are interested in developing a little more in the technical skills, you might as well do that through the program. One thing I want to highlight is not just having these skills in any. in English, what we at Youth IGF India, very recently in fact, we had done a partnership with the Women in Tech Org, the Northeast chapter. So, our idea was to ensure that we teach relevant cybersecurity skill sets to young women in the Northeast of India, in a language that they are comfortable with, and content that they are comfortable with to address their relevant concerns of the region around cybersecurity. So, what I’ve realized in this process of this partnership, and among the other initiatives that we’ve been running as a civil society body, that there are a lot of civil society bodies out there, not just focusing on mentoring the young, but also mentoring the educators, the researchers, as well as the, how do I say, judiciary and the police in the country to handle these issues. Thanks.

Radhika Gupta: All right. Thank you. On the note of law enforcement being empowered to do their work, I like open mic situations, because I know there are so many expertise in the room. So, we will pause the panel session now. My panelists be thinking about one recommendation, one key recommendation to IGF, as far as promoting child online safety and inclusion of rights is concerned. So, be thinking about that whilst we give the mic to anyone in the room who would like to make an intervention in this regard. Hello?

Audience: Hi. I also hail from India. So, thank you for putting those points together. I just wanted to make an addition to what she mentioned, that on the efforts by the government, in terms of like, India has, the I4C department has actually adopted a mission to train 5,000 commandos, cyber commandos as well, where they’re training these law enforcement agencies to look… into cyber cases in India, which also looks into child safety. So that’s an addition in terms of what the government is doing. But in terms of population, that’s we feel, as a civil society organization, that’s way too less. But coming from an organization that does a lot of digital literacy programs in India, we do train children about cyber safety from a very young age, basically from children below six up till class 12, as well, to talk about how you need to navigate the digital spaces more safely and securely. Also, the interaction with parents are really high, because the whole generational digital divide is one big issue in India. Also, the issue of shared devices. So putting all those together, of course, the missions are way too high. And a lot of civil society organizations, along with the government, are doing a lot of efforts. But then again, in proportion to the population, I think so it’s still way too less. But yes, of course, I’m sure with more efforts and missions, we’ll be able to do that.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you. I wish we have the whole day. We would have packed teleworking and everything.

Speaker 3: I would like to add something, if you allow me.

Radhika Gupta: Who is it?

Speaker 3: This is Dr. Jannath.

Radhika Gupta: Please hold on for us. We have an open mic session now. So just hold on. Hello, everybody.

Audience: Namaste. I’m from Nepal. I’m Madhav Pradhan. And actually, we are working with the children. We incorporate in the curriculum, because in Nepal, we have access to the children, how children can safely use the internet. And if they are cyberbullied, we are very closely working with the cyber bureau. Cyber bureau is very controlling. And if children have a problem, they can complain in the child help line. Because in child help line, if they have a problem, mentally health is linked with the hospital. And if they have online cyberbullying, link with the cyber bureau. That’s where we are working. And I want to know in other country how they are incorporating the curriculum. Because from one class to 12 class, how children can safely use the internet. And other country, how they can complain that we are now working in Nepal.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you. In the country I come from, online safety has become part of the lessons for ICT. So from the scratch, they have it as a content that they engage with.

Audience: Hello, I am from Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, our government has created our administrative committee for teenagers in locally, district level, as well as in central level. In central committee, there are 11 ministries, as well as police, cyber security, crime related agencies are there. And in the district level, there are district collector, police, super, medical officers, educational officers, and as well as all the society related co-workers are there. And they are actually working for preventing cyber crime for teenagers. So there could be an idea for everyone. So they could do that locally to prevent cyber crime, cyber bullying perfectly. I guess that could be an idea.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you for your intervention. Janatu, could you speak now? Hello? While we wait for her.

Audience: Thank you so much. And like, I mean, Haitha has like added everything, but like, I just very quickly wanted to like come in. Oh, that’s fine now. Yeah, coming on the point that you were mentioning in terms of the local language, right. So one initiative, which is very commendable that the Indian government is trying to do is Bhaashini. So Bhaashini is AI integrated tool, which the government is developing to like actually translate various, you know, digital platforms or the digital services into the vernacular languages so the individuals across India can actually like access them in a more like, you know, meaningful way. In addition to that, like also wanted to like mention a little bit when we are talking about digital literacy, it’s also important to like, look at from the emerging technology perspective. India is like working on something called India AI mission. And one of the key pillars is the, you know, AI future skills. So where they’re actually developing courses and like, you know, developing modules within the, you know, curriculums of the schools and colleges, and also which is actually within the tier two and tier three of the, you know, cities. And finally, one more point, which I wanted to add, like, I think, like, there’s a long curve to go in terms of like, you know, also sensitizing the government in terms of like enforcement, when it comes to all of these aspects, when we talk about like, you know, child abuse and everything, but government is also like very actively working on that there’s a department within the METI, which is the, you know, electronics and information technology Ministry of India, NEGD, which actually looks specifically into like sensitizing how the, you know, the public sector can also like, understand what’s really happening within this ecosystem to act better. Yeah. Maybe I could just add an international perspective. So I was a delegate to the 93rd child rights convention in Geneva. And the primary issue discussed was, of course, all of these serious issues that your governments have been addressing, but a major overlap is the mental health issues caused by social media to children. So it evolves from false body images to several psychological problems. So what do these governments do actually, beyond just teaching children how to use the internet and how to be safe on the internet from a mental health perspective? That is so an open question.

Radhika Gupta: That’s a question. He’s talking. about what governments are doing. I don’t think I’ll limit it to just the panelists. Anybody who has the response could take up the mic. What governments are doing in order to safeguard young people from mental health concerns and body image issues?

Audience: Thank you. Can you hear me? All right. My name is Mary Uduma. I’m from Nigeria. And the panelists from Nigeria have done some intervention on what has been happening in my country. Apart from the government, there are other organizations, other non-governmental organizations that are also involved in capacity building when it comes to child online protection, as well as advocacy group for the children. And my own organization, Ndukwe Kalo Foundation, we are interested in that. And we do capacity building for teachers, engaging them so that they can also engage the students. And also, we’re establishing what we call ambassadors within the school setting so that children, they talk to their peers. They may not speak to the adults, but they can actually confide in their peers. So we’re trying to set up that so that it can happen. As for mental health, I’m not sure there’s a government organization that is looking at mental health. But it’s something we can take back home to make sure that we look at that to include it in our engagement with the caregivers, the teachers, the parents, and then even the law enforcement agent, and also the health care organizations. We’ll take that home and we’ll try to implement it.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you. And let me just reiterate the fact that if country-level strategies are being developed using the general comment number 25, all these things would have been taken care of. But if we develop the country’s strategies without the global standard, it would be very difficult for us to take care of issues that will come up. And it will not be future-proof enough. We will design a solution after one year. We’ll have to now review it in order to come up with other things. So as much as possible, take the message home. The general comment is there for countries to use in order to design solution or strategies that will help protect children effectively in the digital space. Is Janatu available now? Oh, there’s a question online. Okay. Who is our moderator online then? Are you doing that? I can’t see the question.

Audience: The lady’s name is Sasha. Okay, Sasha, could you unmute yourself and ask the question? Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Okay, I tried to put on the video as well. However, it’s not working. So my name is Sasha Nandlal. I’m from Trinidad and Tobago. I’m currently in Canada pursuing my PhD, and my comment and question is based around the second point, digital literacy and inclusion, from the perspective of empowering all students within the process of education and retaining their backgrounds, as well as being mindful of their socio-economic standings. And with that in mind, within Trinidad and Tobago, we have the Digital Transformation Project through UNICEF as well. But it’s been part of our practice to look at the infrastructure, as it would be with most organizations, and consider the policy, the hardware, and building teacher awareness. And I think that’s one of the major parts that we haven’t touched on as much, is that teachers’ attitudes play a role in terms of what morals, values, ethics, and practices are going to be reciprocated throughout the veins of society and the way in which we promote change and change management processes from the generation moving forward. When we consider the formal and hidden curriculum, formal curriculum-wise we consider systemic when it comes to concepts that are going to be developed and the skills that are going to be developed from early childhood years to adulthood. Within that hidden curriculum, as well, we have to consider the effective domains of the students and the teachers and how does that bridge of using technology and using and developing the digital literacy for education and the future work environment, how important is that, and the interjection of AI within that equation. So it’s a very delicate space to be in and when we consider accessibility design, in most cases when it comes to the drive of technology, it starts from the private sector and most times private sectors don’t consider the user at the center of the element that they’re creating. They think about the student after this software has been developed and now we have to go back and weave those pieces through that technology. And so having a strong relationship between corporate and public sectors when it comes to education would be tantamount to its success. And if we have more grants gathered into that space where we could bridge these gaps, bridge that digital divide, and have technology going from one space of private sector to government sector, we’ll find that even the students who didn’t have internet at home could still have access to certain ways of learning, whether it be asynchronous, working from that device home and then plugging into it. to these sessions when they come to school. And so accessibility design might be central to that particular field. I just wondered from the speaker’s perspective and from their own personal experiences, how has that perspective of accessibility played into the role of education development when it comes to digital literacy and inclusion? Thank you.

Radhika Gupta: Right, thank you. You want to take that?

Speaker 1: I think I’m sure somebody else would like to take in a deeper context, but I’ll just give a quick example of how an emerging technology like the internet of things, that’s something we’ve used in India to connect with schools. So especially during the COVID time, a lot of the high school science experiments that could be around titrations or focal length, et cetera, was a project that I worked on, where we worked with an NGO and we also connected with a lot of rural schools in India. They were able to perform the science experiments that was placed in a city, sitting in their schools in the remote part of India. And they had a dashboard, they had an interface, and in real time they were able to conduct these experiments remotely. And there was a queuing mechanism, and that ensured that even, and of course we wanted to ensure there was seamless internet, that is what enabled it. But this is one way to ensure that technology is used in the education sector to ensure that the education is continuous and the learning is continuous. Just wanted to add that, I’m sure somebody else would like to take the question.

Radhika Gupta: Okay, even if nobody adds anything. Her question actually presents the real picture of the complexities involved in doing child online protection. There’s no way we can have one stakeholder have all the solutions or have a system that is foolproof. It’s important that we come together, we bring collective knowledge. And like she said, sometimes businesses. choose profit over protection and well-being. However, if we engage them at the early stage, we are going back to the basics, doing the right thing, we will not have to be there and be retrofitting, but then industry will take into consideration the standard tools in their design and making sure that whatever they’re putting forward has the interest of the child at heart and they are doing the right thing. So which is why, again, country level strategies are very, very important. If we have them in place, you can call the industry player to book in order for them to do what they have to do. So we need to take our country level designs very seriously and make sure we are designing them with the right frameworks in mind. So I’ll give the panelists the last opportunity. Each of you is giving us a recommendation to IGF going forward as to how we can promote child safety and inclusion in IGF. So, Janatu, are you with us? Okay. Samayla? Gabriel? Thank you.

Samaila Atsen Bako: That’s an interesting question because, can you hear me?

Radhika Gupta: Yes, Gabriel. Hello. Oh, that’s Samaila.

Samaila Atsen Bako: Okay. Okay, I think there’s a lag on the call, but no problem, I’ll still go ahead. So I was just saying that that’s an interesting question because I was thinking more from the perspective of the human and societal diversity factors that come into play. So let me start with that and then I’ll give my recommendation. So what I would say is that there are things that are human nature, right? There’s that need to interact with people. So you can’t stop. they’re obviously curious as well. The other answer is that what can we do, you know, knowing that they’re going to go online at some point, what can we do to either help, I think we discussed the helping parts, but what can we do maybe as parents and guidance to be more aware. I think the first thing is to observe behavioural changes. When an outgoing kid, for instance, becomes a bit more reserved or doesn’t want to go to a particular place anymore, that should make us ask questions to become more curious. I think we also need to encourage more physical engagements with their peers as opposed to throwing gadgets at them because you just want some some peace of mind and things like that. And then obviously that means we should now also limit their screen time as well as take into cognizance the age limits that are set on some of these platforms. You know, we shouldn’t be allowing kids that are not up to the right age to be joining some of this platform because they are just exposing themselves to dangers they don’t even understand at the time. Now that being said, in terms of recommendations, again I can’t speak for government but I’ll speak from the non-profit perspective. One of my senior colleagues earlier in the hall, Mrs Mary Uduma mentioned she’s looking into ambassadors in schools. Our association, the Cyber Security Association of Nigeria, has actually recently launched cyber clubs and we started with Caleb University and we’re in talks with about two other universities as well. And the idea is to help with awareness raising within those environments because we know some of these digital harms and security concerns tend to happen in schools. And by virtue of doing that, we’re also hoping that we build more interest in cyber security so we have more people hoping to study cyber security as opposed to getting involved in cyber harms and cyber crime as well. So those are some of the things we are doing. I think you already gave a key recommendation for the government or for IGF to push governments to do, which is the adoption of global standards. about that.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you very much. All right, can I unmute Gabriel? He’s ready to speak.

Gabriel Karsan: Thank you very much. For me, Matthew, since I would urge everybody in the multi-stakeholder approach to understand that the times we are living in, based on a simple African proverb, is we say that it takes the village to raise a child. But in the internet age, it takes the globe, because it’s everybody, almost 5.3 billion lords actively engaging, shaping a culture. So everybody in the multi-stakeholder approach, whether policymaker, educator, technologist, academia, we should champion inclusive, culturally grounded, and child-centered digital practices. Because this is the only way we can create a digital, safer future. We have to understand that childhood is a phase. And in the principles of any community, when a child is born, there’s a particular shift in how you interact to ensure that the child gets to be protected and to enjoy sustainability. And this should be extended in our digital scope, that these are the elements that should be highly put in how we decide policy. And this is based on the inclusivity principles. But also, in best practices, we need a lot of public and private partnerships, because this is the only way we could reach localized communities, with the telecos, with the academia, also with the society participants in itself, in a very community-driven approach. Because local organizations often are the ones who raise our children, and they are the ones who bear as safe guardian people in how they get to evolve. So we should empower them as well. And regional cooperation is still very important, because the African Union has a digital strategy, transformative strategy, and also the Malabo Convention. I think when we use regional integration as well, under strict standards, we can push for our countries to be more compliant in enforcing that a child… is the property of all of Africa and it’s our responsibility and moral obligation that we push for these digital spaces inclusively. All right, thank you Gabriel. Naza?

Aishath Naura Naseem: Before concluding, I would like to thank Mr Das for giving us this last minute opportunity to be among this panel discussion with such insightful things that I’m taking from here and to give the key recommendation I noted down so that I don’t forget that. I just want to mention everything for IGF in the context of a developing nation actually. I would like to mention that to ensure a safer digital environment for our children, for IGF to prioritize on global collaborations to develop localized digital safety resources so that maybe the one of the main component that we were discussing today that for the local contents for that’s being used in the social platforms because that’s one thing that all of our countries I think are facing and along with that I would like to recommend also that to bring out policies or strategies that would actually protect our childs and maybe strengthen the digital literacy among the parents. That’s it, thank you.

Radhika Gupta: Thank you.

Speaker 1: You have a right. So first of all it’s been a very incredible panel because I’ve been constantly noting down points from different countries. Sorry if you’ve just seen me typing throughout. So when we there was a point mentioned about technology developments and how that relates to child safety and I think that is a very critical area of concern that we should all be looking into. So we I think from a standardization perspective since I come from technical community I think we need more working groups to encourage inclusive and safe tech focused on child safety and one more recommendation to the IGF would be that there are the current young people are born into the digital era so I think more participation or some kind of a prior consultation with school students so that an agenda item is set for the IGF making sure that their concerns are part of the agenda of the overall multi-stakeholder discussions that take place

Radhika Gupta: thank you all right thank you all I don’t know if I should have the last last words because we have just two minutes to get out of here so yes let me add my voice to what has been said by our panelists country level strategies are very important and they should be designed based on the right principles stated in a general comment number 25 there’s also the need for mandatory and right audit for digital platforms just to ensure that they’ve taken into consideration rights privacy and safety by designing to consideration capacity building for law enforcement agencies just to make sure that they are prosecuting what needed to be prosecuted digital literacy and awareness programs for children and parents to position them well enough and there should be a global accountability mechanism which will take into consideration what countries are doing and if a country is not up to date you can indirect name and shame for countries that are not working to protect children and then there’s the need for inclusivity in policymaking and maybe the last one I will say that maybe the next IGF we should be having the voice of children in the room and not being represented by youth or adults that’s my last on this note thank you so much for enduring and then we are grateful and we hope that this discussion will be carried forward in our various countries and spaces and we become ambassadors for child protection in the digital space in our various endeavors. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. Bye everyone. Bye bye. You see you have been forgotten. Thank you. Thank you Gabriel. Thank you Janatu and thank you Samayla. Thank you very much. you

Agreement Points

Importance of digital literacy initiatives

Speaker 1

Aishath Naura Naseem

Samaila Atsen Bako

Gabriel Karsan

Launching National Digital Literacy Mission

Providing digital literacy training for children and parents

Creating cyber clubs and ambassadors in schools

Implementing competency-based digital literacy skills in education

Multiple speakers emphasized the importance of digital literacy programs for children, parents, and educators to promote safe and responsible internet use.

Need for multi-stakeholder collaboration

Radhika Gupta

Gabriel Karsan

Audience

Importance of public-private partnerships

Promoting regional cooperation through African Union digital strategy

Need for collaboration between corporate and public sectors in education

Speakers agreed on the necessity of collaboration between various stakeholders, including governments, private sector, and regional bodies, to effectively address child online protection issues.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of developing comprehensive strategies at national and regional levels to address child online protection.

Radhika Gupta

Gabriel Karsan

Developing national strategies and frameworks

Promoting regional cooperation through African Union digital strategy

Both speakers highlighted the importance of leveraging technology to enhance educational opportunities and digital literacy in remote or underserved areas.

Speaker 1

Aishath Naura Naseem

Using Internet of Things for remote science experiments

Providing digital literacy training for children and parents

Unexpected Consensus

Addressing mental health concerns related to social media use

Audience

Samaila Atsen Bako

Lack of government focus on mental health issues from social media

Importance of observing behavioral changes in children

Encouraging more physical engagement with peers

While not a primary focus of the discussion, there was unexpected consensus on the need to address mental health concerns related to children’s social media use, with both audience members and panelists recognizing this as an important issue.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement included the importance of digital literacy initiatives, the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration, and the development of comprehensive national and regional strategies for child online protection.

Consensus level

There was a moderate to high level of consensus among speakers on the key issues discussed. This consensus suggests a shared understanding of the challenges and potential solutions in child online protection, which could facilitate more coordinated and effective actions across different countries and stakeholders.

Different Viewpoints

Unexpected Differences

Addressing mental health concerns

Audience

Samaila Atsen Bako

Lack of government focus on mental health issues from social media

Importance of observing behavioral changes in children

While the audience member raised concerns about the lack of government focus on mental health issues caused by social media, Speaker 4 unexpectedly shifted the responsibility to parents and guardians by emphasizing the importance of observing behavioral changes in children. This difference highlights a potential gap in addressing mental health concerns comprehensively.

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the specific approaches to implementing digital literacy programs, the balance between global standards and localized solutions, and the allocation of responsibility for addressing mental health concerns related to online activities.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers is moderate. While there is general consensus on the importance of child online protection and digital literacy, speakers propose different strategies and emphasize various aspects of the issue. These differences reflect the complexity of the topic and the need for multi-faceted approaches tailored to different contexts. The implications of these disagreements suggest that a comprehensive solution to child online protection may require integrating multiple strategies and involving various stakeholders at different levels.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the need for localized approaches to digital safety and education, but Gabriel Karsan emphasizes infrastructure development through school connectivity programs, while Speaker 2 focuses on developing localized digital safety resources through global collaborations.

Gabriel Karsan

Aishath Naura Naseem

Implementing school connectivity programs

Prioritizing global collaborations for localized digital safety resources

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of developing comprehensive strategies at national and regional levels to address child online protection.

Radhika Gupta

Gabriel Karsan

Developing national strategies and frameworks

Promoting regional cooperation through African Union digital strategy

Both speakers highlighted the importance of leveraging technology to enhance educational opportunities and digital literacy in remote or underserved areas.

Speaker 1

Aishath Naura Naseem

Using Internet of Things for remote science experiments

Providing digital literacy training for children and parents

Key Takeaways

Child online protection requires multi-stakeholder collaboration involving governments, tech companies, civil society, and children themselves

Country-level strategies for child online protection should be based on global standards like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 25

Digital literacy initiatives are crucial for empowering children to navigate online spaces safely

There is a need to address mental health concerns arising from children’s use of social media and digital technologies

Emerging technologies like AI and IoT can be leveraged to enhance digital education and inclusion

Resolutions and Action Items

Develop country-level strategies for child online protection based on global standards

Implement digital literacy programs for children, parents, and educators

Create cyber clubs and ambassador programs in schools to raise awareness

Include children’s voices directly in future IGF discussions

Conduct mandatory rights audits for digital platforms to ensure child safety

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively address mental health issues caused by social media use among children

Ways to bridge the digital divide and ensure equitable access to digital technologies for all children

Methods to balance protection and empowerment in child online safety initiatives

Strategies for engaging tech companies to prioritize child safety in product design

Suggested Compromises

Balancing the need for child protection with allowing children to participate meaningfully in digital spaces

Combining global standards with localized approaches to address cultural and regional differences in child online protection

Integrating digital literacy into existing educational curricula rather than creating separate programs

We cannot afford to fold our arms or throw them in the air in despair. The stakes are too high and the future of our children demands action, innovation and accountability.

speaker

Radhika Gupta

reason

This comment sets an urgent and action-oriented tone for the discussion, emphasizing the critical nature of child online protection.

impact

It framed the subsequent discussion around concrete actions and strategies, rather than just theoretical discussion.

The way forward requires a paradigm shift towards safety by design, privacy by design, child rights by design, those forming the fundamentals.

speaker

Radhika Gupta

reason

This introduces the important concept of proactive design for child safety, rather than reactive measures.

impact

It shifted the conversation towards preventative measures and systemic approaches to online child protection.

We must resist the tendency to combine children with youth. Children require unique protection, tailored strategies and recognition of their peculiar vulnerabilities and rights.

speaker

Radhika Gupta

reason

This highlights the often overlooked distinction between children and youth in digital policies.

impact

It prompted more specific discussion about child-focused strategies rather than general youth policies.

I want to highlight the aspect that relates to the digital threats that young children the children pose that falls under this act which is which mentions that it criminalizes the use of children for creating, distributing and accessing child sexual abuse material as CISA material and includes various provisions for online grooming, harassment and cyber exploitation.

speaker

Speaker 1 (Ahitha)

reason

This comment brings attention to specific legal measures addressing digital threats to children.

impact

It grounded the discussion in concrete policy examples and legal frameworks.

We no longer have child pornography. An abuse is an abuse. A child does not engage in pornography.

speaker

Radhika Gupta

reason

This correction highlights the importance of appropriate terminology in discussing child exploitation.

impact

It raised awareness about language use and framing of issues related to child abuse.

So much as we are treating the harms and the threats to children, we need to also take care of empowerment. We need to take care of their skill sets in order for them to engage responsibly.

speaker

Radhika Gupta

reason

This comment shifts the focus from protection to empowerment, introducing a more holistic approach.

impact

It broadened the discussion to include digital literacy and skills development for children.

I think even from the, if you look at law enforcement now, there’s a bit more knowledge, you know, about electronic crime or online fraud and cyber crime and all that, but also from the digital harms perspective, where we have cyber bullying and online harassment, so there’s a bit more knowledge, although we’re hoping for better and more widespread awareness and even prosecution and things like that.

speaker

Samaila Atsen Bako

reason

This comment highlights the progress in law enforcement awareness while acknowledging the need for further improvement.

impact

It introduced the role of law enforcement in child online protection and the need for their continued education and involvement.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by broadening its scope from mere protection to empowerment, emphasizing the need for proactive design in digital spaces, highlighting the distinction between children and youth, and stressing the importance of appropriate terminology and legal frameworks. The discussion evolved from general concerns to specific strategies and actions, encompassing various stakeholders including policymakers, law enforcement, and children themselves. The comments collectively pushed for a more comprehensive, nuanced, and action-oriented approach to child online protection.

How are other countries incorporating online safety into their educational curriculum from grades 1-12?

speaker

Madhav Pradhan

explanation

Understanding how different countries integrate online safety education throughout schooling years can help improve child protection strategies globally.

What are governments doing to address mental health issues caused by social media use among children, beyond just teaching internet safety?

speaker

Unnamed audience member

explanation

This highlights the need to consider the psychological impacts of internet use on children, not just physical safety concerns.

How has accessibility design been incorporated into digital literacy and inclusion efforts in education?

speaker

Sasha Nandlal

explanation

Addressing accessibility ensures that digital literacy initiatives reach all students, regardless of their backgrounds or abilities.

How can we encourage more physical engagements with peers as opposed to relying on digital interactions?

speaker

Samaila Atsen Bako

explanation

Balancing online and offline interactions is crucial for children’s holistic development and safety.

How can we develop more localized digital safety resources for different countries and cultures?

speaker

Aishath Naura Naseem

explanation

Culturally appropriate resources are essential for effective implementation of child online safety measures across diverse global contexts.

How can we include more direct participation from school students in setting the agenda for IGF discussions on child online safety?

speaker

Speaker 1

explanation

Involving children directly in policy discussions ensures their perspectives and concerns are adequately addressed.