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United Kingdom

5Rights leads innovation in digital policy, ensuring children and young people in the UK feel safe and empowered online. 

Overview

The UK, where 5Rights was founded, has pioneered digital regulation for children. It introduced the world’s first enforceable Age Appropriate Design Code in 2020, followed by the Online Safety Act in 2023, making it a key testing ground for policy innovation and implementation. 

Children’s experiences

Almost all 3-17-year-olds go online in the UK, mostly to watch videos, play video games, send messages to their friends and stay connected via social media. Nearly half of 11-year-olds who go online have a social media profile, despite a minimum age requirement of 13 for most social media sites. While watching videos, children are exposed to many advertisements and encouraged to spend cash as they are playing online games. Grooming cases and self-generated child sexual imagery are also on the rise, especially for younger children. 5Rights works hard to advocate that digital spaces likely to be accessed by children provide them with content and experiences appropriate to their age and evolving capacities. 

Our work in the UK

5Rights works closely with policy makers and regulators and leads the work of the Children’s Coalition for Online Safety. We also partner with Bereaved Families for Online Safety to keep children’s online safety at the forefront of the political agenda. In partnership with the London School of Economics, 5Rights launched the Digital Futures for Children centre, dedicated to researching a rights-respecting digital world for children.

As part of our joint work with the Digital Futures for Children Centre, we are launching the Better EdTech Futures for Children project, which brings together young people across the UK to explore how technology and AI are shaping the classroom and to advocate for a more rights-respecting digital learning environment.

Group of 4 young people standing together, smiling.

Become a 5Rights Youth Ambassador!

Are you passionate about your rights in the digital world, want to learn more, or have ideas about what tech companies could do better? The 5Rights Youth Ambassador Programme is looking for champions like you to speak up and make change happen!


Apply by Monday 15th September at 23:59 UTC!