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Research 

5Rights is  fundamentally changing how we understand children’s online experiences. Our groundbreaking research provides the solid foundation needed to to create a safer online world, where children can thrive.  

Children’s experiences

Understanding children’s digital lives, including their access, interactions, activities, and evolving online experiences, is essential to 5Rights’ mission. Innovative Youth Deliberative Juries, coupled with cutting-edge research, inform our ongoing child and youth consultation initiatives. The Digital Futures for Children centre at LSE serves as a leading global academic hub for research and collaboration. 

“It is easy to feel powerless when you find out that companies are using our data to sell them to third parties “

Théo, 16

“A digital world without distractions and pointless content would be perfect for children and youth.”

Erika, 17

System design

5Rights pioneers innovative research methodologies to investigate the interplay system design, children’s use of technology and corporate profit. Working with designers and technical experts, while leveraging company disclosures and ground-breaking avatar research, we uncover the underlying features, functionalities and algorithms that determine children’s experience, and expose the business models that shape their choices.

Child-centred design 

From defining best practices to equipping innovators with the tools they need to design with children’s rights in mind, 5Rights and the DFC are driving new thinking on digital design. Our work is empowering policymakers, researchers and tech innovators to create a digital world that respects children’s rights and caters to their needs. 

“A world where children can create digital spaces that are helpful to our generation and create a safe space that will last for many years”

Mikhail, 12

Digital Futures for Children centre

This joint LSE and 5Rights centre facilitates research for a rights-respecting digital world for children. The Digital Futures for Children centre supports an evidence base for advocacy, facilitates dialogue between academics and policymakers, and amplifies children’s voices.

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Latest

A girl is sitting at a desk, holding a smartphone. The desk is in the foreground. There are two notepads on the desk to the left of the image. A boy is standing to the girl's left. Both faces of the children are cropped out, but you can see the girl visibly smiling.
  • Reports
  • Education Technology
  • Services
  • Global

Smartphone policies in schools: what does the evidence say?

Smartphones and their addictive design techniques have sparked concern that they inhibit children’s schooling, but with EdTech offering new learning opportunities, what does the evidence tell us?
Three children sit close together, each focused on their own laptops. The child on the left is reclined with their legs extended on a chair, wearing brown winter boots. The children appear to be working collaboratively or engaged in their individual projects.
  • Publications
  • Global

Impact of regulation on children’s digital lives

New research reveals how laws across the world are driving positive changes in tech platforms to protect children online. Learn about the impact of regulations on children’s digital lives.
  • Publications
  • Child Rights
  • Global

The “Best Interests of the Child” in the Digital Age

Unpacking the “best interests” principle in the digital age. This new report reveals misuse & clarifies its true meaning while outlining established procedures for best interests assessments.
  • Reports
  • Data Protection
  • Education Technology
  • United Kingdom

In support of a Code of Practice for Education Technology

This briefing on the Amendment 146 to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill unpacks the benefits of a Code of Practice for EdTech.