March Statement on Global Digital Compact Informal Consultation

Nine organisations, including 5Rights, united to reiterate our previous call for a Global Digital Compact (GDC) that prioritises the promotion, protection and implementation of children’s rights in the digital environment.

The Global Digital Compact sets out principles, objectives and actions to build an “open, free, secure and human-centred digital future for all”.

As part of this process, stakeholders – from governments to the private sector to civil society and youth – have been involved in consultations to provide feedback to the draft of the Global Digital Compact.

We welcome the human-rights-based approach reflected in the structure of the Compact and the notable mention of “specific measures to protect children to foster an inclusive, open, safe, secure digital space”, however, we emphasise the need for a systematic consideration of children throughout the Compact.

In the letter, the organisations stress the importance of including an explicit reference to the UNCRC – General comment 25 underpinning the principles of the Global Digital Compact, to emphasise that children’s rights must be respected, protected and fulfilled in the digital environment.

The letter also includes additional recommendations, namely:

• Ensure that children’s rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled through a holistic and coordinated approach across policies, programmes, government departments, and industry sectors.
• Create a safe and age-appropriate digital environment for children, taking into account their diverse needs and rights, agency, age, maturity, and prioritising their best interests, integrating privacy, safety and security by design and by default.
• Empower children to exercise their rights in the digital environment safely and avoid restricting these rights due to a lack of necessary safeguards by States and businesses.
• Promote safe and meaningful participation of children, ensuring that children’s voices in all their diversity are heard and their views are taken into account when developing laws and policies, as well as when designing, developing, operating, and marketing digital products and services. Placing special attention to children and groups of children who are disproportionately affected by intersecting vulnerabilities, to ensure equitable online access and meaningful participation.

As the Summit of the Future draws near, we reiterate our call to strengthen the Compact for Children so that it can achieve what it originally set out to do: build an open, free, secure digital
future for all, including children.