Abstract
The digital world has created a fundamental tension between two competing societal needs: the need to safeguard children online and the need to protect personal privacy. The research uses interpretive methods to study how evolving technologies influence the digital interplay between child protection measures, privacy rights, and ultimately human rights. We conduct a critical examination of current internationally recognized privacy advocacy, including the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Digital Services Act, and policy statements and positions from initiatives like WeProtect and AI for Safer Children, to explore the meanings, interests, and power structures embedded within them. We subsequently focus on social and commercial realities, examining how legal systems impact corporate operations in areas of privacy and security under scrutiny, with a key emphasis on the criteria for policy inclusion and exclusion. The study examines how inclusion and exclusion are constructed when industry resistance, often justified by calls for privacy and free expression, determines the parameters for child protection. The findings highlight a central conflict. Platforms that implement technological safeguards to demonstrate responsibility often perpetuate exclusionary practices and marginalize the very communities they claim to protect. The research outlines opportunities and best practices for creating a more equitable policy structure that upholds children’s rights while protecting privacy and human rights; advancing governance models that reflect ethical responsibility and social justice, while balancing economic and technological growth.
Presenters
Dana Humaid Al MarzooqiCo-Founder, Global Advocacy Hub for Children and Families, New York, United States Diana Gerson
Student, Postgraduate Researcher, University of Essex, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
CHILD SAFEGUARDING, DIGITAL RIGHTS, INDUSTRY RESISTANCE, PRIVACY, TECH POLICY
