PARIS
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Wednesday issued a statement calling for a safer digital environment for children and setting out key actions to achieve that goal as the summit in France concluded.
“We, the leaders of the G7, are committed to providing a safe digital space for our minors, which include children and youth under 18, for their development, for their education and for their well-being,” the statement noted.
Aside from the G7 states, the call was also supported by Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya and South Korea.
The statement stressed the need for children and youth’s online experience to be safe, enriching and development-focused.
“Digital service providers have the important role and opportunity to provide digital platforms which are safe-by-design, secure, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate and protective of children and youth, including by default settings,” it said.
The leader raised concerns regarding the risks posed by such digital services, alerting that minors could be exposed to illegal and age-inappropriate content harmful to their mental health.
“Recommendation systems should, when used, be designed to elevate age-appropriate content and to reduce exposure to risks. Digital service should be designed to empower parents and minors with tools to be more in control of their experience and data through safety-by-design approaches, such as protective and by-default settings,” they suggested.
The statement called on all governments, digital service providers, public authorities and relevant stakeholders to prioritize the protection of minors’ physical and mental health, privacy and safety online.
“We call on digital service providers to develop and apply technology and systems that ensure safe, secure and age-appropriate experiences, including through effective and innovative age assurance mechanisms while preserving the privacy of users according to respective jurisdictions, national circumstances and applicable legal frameworks,” the statement added.
It further pointed to risks connected to the children and youth’s use of conversational artificial intelligence systems, “undermining their well-being and safety and reinforcing the need to build their critical skills to engage responsibly in digital space.”
They voiced support for ongoing efforts to help minors distinguish authentic from synthetic content and to identify content provenance.
The statement further reaffirmed its commitment to combating online harms against children, including child sexual abuse material, non-consensual deepfake imagery, violent extremism, and terrorist content, while urging digital platforms to strengthen safeguards and cooperate with law enforcement.
The leaders also stressed the importance of sharing best practices and fostering cooperation among researchers, educators, and digital platforms to better understand the opportunities and challenges posed by digital services and artificial intelligence for children and youth.
“We are committed to fostering a research and scientific ecosystem capable of studying those benefits and challenges,” they said.
