Statement on European Commission’s guidelines on DSA Article 28(1)
Together with 38 leading children’s rights organisations and experts, 5Rights Foundation welcomes the European Commission’s development of guidelines on Digital Services Act (DSA) Article 28(1), which mandates platforms accessible to children to “ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security of minors.” In the response to a call for evidence, we present key principles and elements that must be included to ensure children’s rights are upheld across digital platforms.
The guidelines are pivotal for effective DSA implementation and enforcement. To deliver on its promise to children, say the signatories together with 5Rights, the upcoming guidance on article 28 should provide clear and concrete guidance based on UNCRC General comment No. 25 and the highest available standards, such as the Irish Fundamentals for a Child-Oriented Approach to Data Processing, the UK ICO’s Children’s Code or the CEN-CENELEC Workshop Agreement 18016 on Age appropriate digital services framework.
The note, framing 5Rights and others’ responses to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the matter, provides key principles and elements that the guidelines should consider, as well as a detail on what they should include as minimum standards, based on the widely supported 5Rigths report “A High Level of Privacy, Safety and Security for Minors: a best practices baseline for the implementation of the Digital Services Act for Children”.
The European Commission expects to conclude the work on the guidelines in the first half of 2025. Civil society’s expertise and child participation will be key for the process to be successful: for guidelines to help companies to comply with the DSA in practice and to support regulators in their enforcement action – ultimately fostering innovation and investment into making Europe the safest place for children to be online.
