Policy brief: Online safety & platform accountability

As governments prepare national pledges ahead of the 2nd Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, the opportunity to strengthen online safety systems has never been more urgent. Governments, regulators, technology companies, and development partners must act collectively to ensure that children are protected within rapidly evolving digital environments.

Key priorities for immediate action include:

• Child protection cannot remain secondary to digital expansion.
• Online safety must be treated as a child rights and justice imperative.
• Platform accountability should move from voluntary compliance to enforceable regulation.
• Harmonized cross-border cooperation is essential to addressing transnational online abuse.
• Survivor participation must be institutionalized within digital governance and child protection systems.
• Sustainable financing for online safety prevention and response mechanisms is a governance responsibility, not an optional investment.
• Safety and inclusion by design should become standard practice across digital products and platforms.
• Governments and technology companies must prioritize child-centered, rights-based, and survivor-informed approaches in all digital policy frameworks.

“Child protection cannot remain secondary to digital expansion.”