Topic
Protecting Youth from Digital Violence: Legal, Educational and Institutional Safeguards
Digital spaces have become central to the lives of young people worldwide. While they offer opportunities for learning and global engagement, they also expose youth to new forms of violence, including cyberbullying, harassment, hate speech, online grooming, privacy violations, and exploitation.
The United Nations recognizes digital violence as a growing threat to children’s rights, safety, and well-being, linking it directly to SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and SDG 4 (Quality Education). UN agencies such as UNICEF, UNESCO, and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth emphasize that protecting youth online requires coordinated legal, educational, and institutional action.
The Human Rights Council has already laid important foundations for addressing digital harms, such as Resolution on “The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age”, introducing special procedures, and Universal Periodic Review. These frameworks guide Member States in developing national systems that reflect their international human rights obligations.
Key Challenges:
Young people face a wide range of human rights challenges in digital environments, as digital violence continues to evolve faster than the mechanisms designed to protect them. Cyberbullying, harassment, hate speech, and extremist content disproportionately target vulnerable groups such as girls, minority youth, LGBTQ+ youth, and politically active young people, leading to psychological harm, social exclusion, and reduced educational performance. Many states lack comprehensive legislation that criminalizes all forms of online abuse in line with international human rights standards, while regulation of technology companies, particularly concerning data privacy remains limited and uneven. These gaps contribute to frequent violations of youth privacy through unauthorized data sharing and weak accountability mechanisms.
Access to justice is also restricted due to limited reporting channels, institutional weaknesses, and persistent stigma around digital violence. Deep digital divides further exacerbate vulnerability by leaving many young people without reliable information, safety tools, or institutional support. Finally, efforts to combat digital violence sometimes result in overly broad state measures that unintentionally restrict freedom of expression, while insufficient education and digital literacy among youth, parents, and educators limits awareness, prevention, and resilience. Together, these challenges underline the need for comprehensive and rights-based safeguards within the Human Rights Council’s mandate.
Institutional Safeguards:
Effective protection requires strong and coordinated institutions capable of addressing the multidimensional nature of digital violence. The Human Rights Council encourages states to establish independent child protection bodies or ombudspersons with mandates that explicitly cover digital environments, while also strengthening cooperation among ministries of justice, youth, education, and digital affairs to ensure a unified national response.
Collaboration with civil society organizations is essential for providing helplines, safe spaces, counseling services, and community-level support for affected youth. States are further urged to work closely with technology companies to develop transparent safety policies, enforce age-appropriate protections, and ensure accessible reporting mechanisms on digital platforms. Finally, systematic data collection and monitoring of emerging trends are crucial for evidence-based policymaking and for meeting reporting obligations within the Universal Periodic Review process, ultimately contributing to more effective and rights-compliant protection frameworks.
Within the Human Rights Council’s mandate, protecting youth from digital violence is essential to ensuring the universal enjoyment of human rights in the digital era. Member States must pursue comprehensive legal, educational, and institutional safeguards that reflect their obligations under international human rights law. The HRC provides a platform for advancing global standards, encouraging cooperation, and ensuring that young people can participate safely, freely, and equally in digital spaces.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/home
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/child-and-youth-safety-online