From Children’s Voices to Action
A youth-led roadmap to realize the best interests of children in the digital environment
This paper presents both the perspectives of children—captured through direct consultations—and the insights of adolescents and youth—generated through a participatory foresight process, all conducted by UNICEF. Across regions and age groups, children demonstrated profound insight into how the digital world works—and how it doesn’t work for them.
Key findings
The present system
Children and young people alike expressed high levels of frustration with an illusion of control in digital spaces. Issues like limited user choice, data exploitation, inappropriate content, gaps in age verification, and more were exacerbated by a widespread lack of rights awareness and a failure of institutions to prioritize the protection of children. The systems currently in place often fail to protect, support, or empower them. Yet what also emerges is a strong current of awareness, reflection, and resolve—from both children and youth.
The digital environment children wish for
When asked to envisage preferred futures, children imagined a digital world that is inclusive, safe, and empowering. Through youth-led synthesis of child consultation data, a shared vision emerged—one in which technology is not only accessible but designed around the best interests of the child; where wellbeing became a design principle; where a culture of shared responsibility between children, parents, teachers, corporations and governments had emerged; and both privacy and safety standards were made clear and understandable to all.
The innovations and disruptions with potential
Youth saw great potential in digital literacy becoming a foundational human right; in platforms being reclaimed for self-expression and advocacy for social change; in emerging technologies at the community level that promote inclusion and equitable access, and in rebalancing responsibility for safety with children and young people included as co-governors and co-designers. To bring this preferred future about, youth coalesced around six recommendations.
Youth recommendations
6 recommendations
Education systems must shift from basic technical skills to a comprehensive understanding of digital rights, data use, and ethical engagement. Education systems need to implement digital and AI literacy programmes that are co-created with children and youth, moving beyond mechanics to foster a deep understanding of data ethics and digital rights. This educational mandate must be supported by coherent, harmonized legislation at both government and regional levels, clearly defining the responsibilities of platforms, regulators, and media.
Platform communication must be transparent and age-appropriate, replacing complex legal jargon with clear, engaging language. We must hold developers accountable for effectively explaining the implications of engagement, thereby empowering children to make informed decisions about their online presence. This requires decision-makers at national, regional, and global levels to establish and enforce strict communication guidelines. Furthermore, platforms must redesign user interfaces to prioritize informed consent, ensuring that these standards are regularly evaluated and adjusted in collaboration with the children they are meant to protect.
Implement comprehensive safeguards that protect children’s rights to privacy. As deepfakes and deceptive content proliferate, children are left vulnerable while parents are ill-equipped to respond. We need mandatory labeling of all AI-generated content to prevent confusion and mitigate harm before it spreads. This must be backed by a judicial system that adapts proactively to technological shifts, ensuring global equity in protection resources. Crucially, we must enforce strong legal consequences for those who use AI to exploit children, ensuring that the technology’s positive potential is not overshadowed by unchecked abuse.
To protect vulnerable populations, particularly children and persons with disabilities, we must establish a global well-being framework that ensures consistent, standardized safety measures. This framework could operate on three pillars:
- Systemic design that enforces algorithmic accountability to eliminate exploitative advertising;
- Strict privacy protocols that prohibit excessive data collection that fuels exploitation; and
- Participatory global governance, embedding a dedicated youth network within the multilateral system and establishing binding international targets to ensure that progress in child safety is measurable and enforceable.
To ensure accountability, legal frameworks must evolve as rapidly as the technology they govern. We need a system that strengthens protections through tangible enforcement, including strict warnings and sanctions for influencers, advertisers, and marketers who violate child protection standards. This accountability must be codified through mandatory transparency legislation, forcing digital platforms to open their operations to scrutiny rather than hiding behind self-regulation.
We must empower youth to not only co-design these systems but to actively monitor their success. This requires creating and scaling child-friendly accountability tools—such as progress dashboards and scorecards—that allow children to track outcomes directly. We must institutionalize sustainable feedback loops where youth concerns trigger timely responses and tangible results. Finally, by introducing participatory budgeting and decision-tracking at school, community, and national levels, we ensure children can see exactly how priorities are set and funds are spent.
Highlights
This youth-led paper is part of UNICEF's work on children's best interests in a digital world – a robust global consultation with children about their experiences navigating today’s digital environment.
Before publishing the full report of the global consultation, we invited a cohort of 30 young digital changemakers from across the world to explore the findings. This paper is their analysis. Using foresight methodologies, they unpacked the evidence and developed their own recommendations for the public and private sectors.
As governments and organizations discuss new policies, regulations, and opportunities, these young changemakers present a forward-looking roadmap for protecting children’s rights in digital spaces.
