Parents should not face the battle against online harms alone
The digital world offers children vast opportunities to learn, grow, and connect — but it also comes with systemic risks that disproportionately affect young users. While families and children have voiced their concerns through parents’ networks and our Youth Ambassadors’ programme globally, the sheer scale and complexity of online harms make it impossible for children and parents to navigate the challenges of today’s digital landscape alone. The risks children encounter online, however, are structural in nature and should be addressed by tech companies and governments.
Speaking at the 57th regular session of the Human Rights Council about States’ obligations on the role of the family in supporting Human Rights of its members’, 5Rights emphasised that the burden of protecting children online should shift away from parents and onto the entities responsible for creating and regulating the digital environment – tech companies and governments.
A systemic problem – tech design is failing children
Tech companies constantly make design choices that prioritise their commercial interests over children’s rights. The relentless pursuit of children’s attention through deliberately designed features – combined with the disregard for the consequences of these tactics – has enriched tech companies, turned children into collateral damage and left parents to shoulder the blame for a problem they cannot solve.
Children are being pushed harmful content such as sexualised images, and content promoting eating disorders, weight loss and self-harm. Our research, Pathways: How digital design puts children at risk, additionally reveals that children are being exposed to such content even when platforms are aware of their age.
Children also report feeling that they cannot disconnect, as their sleeping habits and sense of self are negatively affected by features such as endless scrolling, push notifications, and popularity metrics specifically designed to keep them online. This is not a failure of individual parents or children; it is a failure of the systems children are forced to navigate to learn, grow and connect in the digital environment.
As said by Sami Jaber, 5Rights’ International Policy Officer, at the 57th session of the Human Rights Council:
“Tech companies often try to shift the blame away from themselves, towards children and parents… We cannot ask children and families to fight this battle alone. These structural risks require a structural redesign, as many features are risky by design”,
Putting the responsibility on parents and children fails to tackle the systemic nature of the issue. Instead, States and tech companies must lead the way in building a digital environment, where children’s rights are implemented by design and default.
Families cannot face this battle alone
In our address to the Human Rights Council, we also highlighted the international agreements that provide a framework for protecting children’s rights in the digital environment.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its accompanying General comment No. 25, which 5Rights supported drafting, firmly establish children’s rights both online and offline. Specific reference is made to the high level of privacy, safety and security owed to children by design and default, and for child rights impact assessments.
These documents, supported by General comment No. 16 and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, build the case for shifting the burden of responsibility away from parents and onto tech companies.
When tech companies design platforms and services without the best interests of children in mind, they actively choose to jeopardise their safety, well-being and mental health. Families and children should not be left alone in tackling these harms.
5Rights will continue to work with international bodies, governments, and tech companies to push for the systemic redesign of digital platforms so that children and their families can thrive in a safe and rights-respecting online environment.