G7: international principles that reflect over twenty years of commitment to protecting minors online

In the run-up to the G7 Summit, to be held in Evian from 15 to 17 June under the French Presidency, digital issues are taking centre stage in discussions between Member States. Among the priorities identified, the protection of minors online appears to be a shared imperative, given the scale of the risks to which children and teenagers are now exposed on digital platforms around the world.

For several months now, the e-Enfance / 3018 Association has been involved in discussions taking place alongside the work of the Digital G7 on the issues of protecting minors online and protecting democracy in the age of social networks.

On Thursday 28 May, the Association was present at a meeting bringing together a number of national and international players involved in these issues, organised at the initiative of Anne Le Hénanff, Minister Delegate for the Digital Economy and Artificial Intelligence.

A set of principles for a safer digital environment for minors

At the end of these discussions, which highlighted both the scale of the risks to which minors are exposed online and the need for joint commitments to address them, the G7 Digital and Technology ministers affirmed a set of principles aimed at defining a safer and more protective digital space for children and teenagers.

Firstly, these principles reiterate the essential role of age verification, provided that it is robust, proportionate, respects fundamental rights, protects privacy and is appropriate to the risks involved.

They also stress the need for age verification to be part of a broader approach to the protection of minors from the design stage of digital services. This implies in particular :

• protective default security and confidentiality settings ;
• effective parental control tools ;
• limiting features that encourage compulsive use; ;
• better control of recommendation systems; ;
• greater transparency of platforms and their mechanisms.

Preventing digital violence and the new risks associated with artificial intelligence

The G7 Digital and Technology Ministers also stressed the need to prevent the creation, distribution and recirculation of child-abuse content and non-consensual intimate images, including when generated or amplified by artificial intelligence.

Finally, they stress the importance of digital, media and information education, risk assessment, data sharing with researchers and cooperation between public authorities, businesses, civil society, healthcare professionals, teachers, families and minors themselves.

An approach based on children's rights

These guidelines directly echo the recommendations of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which calls for regulation based on children's rights.

It points out that children's rights are fully applicable in the digital environment and that any protection policy must reconcile security, privacy, access to information, freedom of expression, participation and the best interests of the child.

For the Association e-Enfance / 3018, these international principles reinforce a plea we have been making for over twenty years: the best interests of children and respect for their rights must be a primary consideration in the development of public policies and in the practices of digital players.

The digital space must be a space of rights, protection and emancipation for minors.

More than twenty years of commitment to children, families and professionals

Since its creation, the Association e-Enfance / 3018 has been working closely with children, teenagers, families and professionals to support them, raise awareness and prevent digital violence.

Informed by this reality on the ground, its advocacy has gradually developed in step with technological and social transformations: the development of social networks, the massification of mobile use, the algorithmic amplification of content, cyber-bullying, early exposure to pornography, sexist and sexual violence online, the manipulation of information and new risks linked to generative artificial intelligence.

At French, European and international level, the Association will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that these principles are translated into effective obligations and operational tools.

Our constant aim is to give a voice to those who live with this reality, until the digital environment is fully protective and emancipating for the youngest members of society.