*The United Nations, in a fresh report, urges advertisers, media organisations, and researchers to prioritise children’s safety and participation in shaping digital policies, as young people increasingly face disinformation, online harassment, algorithmic bias, and the malicious use of Artificial Intelligence in the global digital ecosystem
Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect
The United Nations (UN) has urged governments and technology companies worldwide to urgently protect children from growing online risks.
ConsumerConnect gathered the UN urged advertisers, media organisations, and researchers to prioritise children’s safety and participation in shaping digital policies.
The global body also said young people increasingly faced disinformation, online harassment, algorithmic bias, and the malicious use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The latest warning was contained in a new UN brief released ahead of this year’s International Youth Day.
The report indicated that over eight in 10 young people aged between 15 and 24 worldwide are now online.
The UN further reported that Internet use among young people in low-income countries was almost twice that of the general population.
On AI Child Safety Pledge to strengthen protection
Earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an AI Child Safety Pledge to strengthen protection for children.
Guterres compared emerging Artificial Intelligence systems to untested medicine, warning against exposing children to poorly regulated technologies.
The UN Secretary-General stated: “No child should be a guinea pig for unregulated AI.
“When a child is harmed, the answer must never be ‘the algorithm did it.”
The UN brief said several online harms affecting children were not accidental but partly to business models designed to monetise attention, personal data, engagement and online spending.
The report identified algorithms encouraging prolonged use and manipulative digital designs among the major risks confronting young people.
It also highlighted “dark patterns”, loot boxes, and other techniques capable of encouraging compulsive online behaviour.
The UN warned that children were particularly vulnerable because their habits, identities and relationships were still developing.
The risks include AI-generated harmful content and the use of Artificial Intelligence to facilitate exploitation.
The report further raised concern about increasingly hidden advertising techniques targeting children, and encouraging online spending.
The brief stated: “Taken together, these practices normalise pervasive commercial surveillance and manipulative design.”
The UN report that children were being exposed during some of the most impressionable years of their development.
The global body, however, emphasised that children and young people should not be viewed only as victims of online risks.
The report equally described them as creators, organisers, journalists, advocates and participants in public debate.
Youth-led movements continued to influence civic life and public conversations across different societies, the report noted.
However, it warned that online spaces could also expose young organisers to harassment, intimidation and surveillance.
The UN, therefore, urged governments and researchers to include young people in policymaking on information integrity.
Charlotte Scaddan, UN Senior Adviser on Information Integrity, said children could contribute significantly to solving the digital information crisis.
Scaddan reportedly said: “Protecting them and including them are not competing goals. We have to do both.”
UN tasks tech companies on stronger child-safety safeguards
The UN report proposed legal and policy measures for member states to strengthen online child protection.
It also urged technology companies to design platforms with stronger child-safety safeguards.
The body as well advised advertisers to respect children’s rights, and avoid exploitative commercial practices.
The UN urged news organisations to better serve young audiences and promote reliable information in the digital space.