IGF 2019 WS #154
How Children's Rights help us to a safe and global Internet

Organizer 1: William Bird, Media Monitoring Africa
Organizer 2: Daniela Tews, Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk e.V.

Speaker 1: Gehad Madi, Intergovernmental Organization, African Group
Speaker 2: AMANDA THIRD, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Sonia Livingstone, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 4: Nomshado Lubisi, Civil Society, African Group

Moderator

William Bird, Civil Society, African Group

Online Moderator

Daniela Tews, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Rapporteur

Daniela Tews, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Format

Panel - Auditorium - 90 Min

Policy Question(s)

Why are children's rights essential in the digital environment?
What is necessary for the implementation of children's rights in the digital world?
What does a General Comment on Children's Rights in relation to the digital environment mean to State parties and Governments?
What responsibility do society, politics and business have for a good and safe growing up with media?
What importance do children themselves attach to a human rights-based, secure and global Internet?

SDGs

GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-Being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequalities
GOAL 12: Responsible Production and Consumption

Description: The panel wants to inform about the vision and the very new process of developing the General Comment on Children's Rights in relation to the digital environment. Stakeholders of this process are invited to report in keynotes about their institution (i.e. the UN-Committee on the Rights of the Child), their expectations and challenges. Inputs from the speakers bring light into the valuable work of children’s rights in digital contexts.
This leads to the title question, how children’s rights can help us to a human rights based, safe and global Internet. The panel plans to discuss, which children’s rights are mainly affected, what are controversy issues to stakeholders and state parties and how are children’s views, interests and experiences implemented in the development of the General Comment.


Expected Outcomes: - Understanding of the importance and chances of children’s rights in the digital environment and the relevance to state parties and other stakeholders
- Learning about the collaborating process of developing a General Comment including the views of different experts from diverse geographical, cultural, political and business regions
- Learning views of children and youth including in the draft of the General Comment

We will inform people from our diverse network about the date and topic and policy questions of our workshop, that they are able to participate personally or online to bring in their perspective and questions. Our network includes persons from all different stakeholder groups in different countries, governmental, technical community, private sector, civil society, youth experts.

Relevance to Theme: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become an integral part of children’s lives. The Internet offers children a wide range of opportunities, but also exposes them to a number of risks. Both, online opportunities and online risks have to be taken into account when considering the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children’s rights also need to be respected, protected and fulfilled in the digital environment, which is a key challenge to society, politics and economics in the 21st century. The child rights perspective opens the view on both the possibilities and the necessities of how children can be kept safe online.

Relevance to Internet Governance: The important discourse on digital children's rights is currently still taking place in a niche and taking into account the children's rights perspective when it comes to Internet Governance is still an underrepresented approach worldwide. At the same time, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has been adopted since 30 years and must finally be applied to all areas of life - offline and online - and be reflected in government measures as well as in the actions of the private sector and civil society. Thus it is possible to develop a human rights based, safe and global internet. The importance of this step is underlined by the work of the UN Children's Rights Committee on the General Comment on Children's Rights in relation to the digital environment.

Online Participation

We will inform people from our diverse network about the date and topic and policy questions of our workshop, that they are able to participate online and to bring in their perspective and questions.