UN Calls for Urgent Action to Protect Children Online

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has called for urgent action by governments and technology companies to strengthen the protection of children online. The statement comes as social media platforms face increasing scrutiny worldwide over harmful content, addictive design features, profiling, recommender systems, and weak accountability mechanisms.

The UN human rights office also published guidelines aimed at improving online child safety while preserving children’s fundamental rights. The proposed measures include safer age-verification systems, mandatory child-rights impact assessments, stronger data protection safeguards, and meaningful participation of children in the design of regulatory responses.

Türk warned that age-based restrictions alone may not address the underlying risks created by platform architecture, algorithmic amplification, and engagement-driven design. He also stressed that poorly implemented age verification can fail to protect children while creating new privacy risks for both minors and adults.

The debate is highly relevant for EU digital law. Under the Digital Services Act, very large online platforms must assess and mitigate systemic risks, including risks to minors, while GDPR rules require strict protection of children’s personal data. As Member States consider age restrictions and platform-specific duties, the central legal challenge remains clear: child safety measures must be effective, proportionate, privacy-preserving, and rights-based.