One in three internet users is a child, yet the digital world was not designed with children in mind. As we witness an acceleration of the development of technologies like generative AI, rapidly transforming children’s lives, tech regulation often prioritises speed over human and children’s rights. Yet the technology-related challenges children face and will face in coming years differ greatly worldwide.

What can we learn from engaging children from around the world in imagining what children’s digital lives might look like in the future and what changes are needed to ensure child rights respecting digital environments and tech regulation?

This event will showcase a project led by the Digital Futures for Children centre and co-designed with 5Rights Global Youth Ambassadors (ages 13–17) from 11 countries worldwide. Using speculative futures methodology, the project explores how children imagine a sustainable digital world over the next 25 years—one that ensures safety, empowerment, and equity regardless of background. Their explorations of future developments highlight shifts in labour, human and human-technology relationships, and points to significant global digital divides.

Meet our speakers and chair

Sakshi Ghai is Assistant Professor of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. Before joining LSE, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, and currently holds the Committee for Children Junior Research Fellowship at Linacre College, University of Oxford. Sakshi’s work explores how digital technologies, such as social media, online gaming, and AI, affect the well-being and online safety of vulnerable young populations. Sakshi also addresses critical issues of sample diversity, generalisability and equitable open science, aiming to diversify research samples to include most of the world’s population living in the Global South.

Dylan Yamada-Rice is Professor of Immersive Storytelling at the School of Art and Architecture and the University of Plymouth. Dylan is a researcher and artist specialising in play and storytelling for children, whose research sits at the intersection of experimental design and social sciences, focusing on digital storytelling, games and play on a range of platforms such as apps, augmented reality and virtual reality, as well as new content for television, all with an emphasis on media for children.

Adam Ingle is the Global Lead for Digital Policy at the LEGO Group, where he helps LEGO maintain high standards of safety, privacy and security in their digital products and advocates for policy that empowers children online. Previously, Adam led the Information Commissioner's Office Emerging Technology Unit, where his team assessed the data protection impact of emerging technologies like AI, immersive worlds, blockchain and advised both industry and government on how to mitigate privacy risks.

Michael Murray is Head of Regulatory Policy at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the United Kingdom’s data protection regulator. In this role, Michael leads on policy development related to the Children’s code (formally known as the Age appropriate design code) and on children’s privacy engagement with online and digital services, regulators and civil society organisations in the UK and internationally. His team also leads on the development of age assurance policy at the ICO. Michael is a member of UNICEF’s Expert Advisory Group on the Best Interest of the Child. Michael has extensive experience in the non-profit and government sectors working in senior roles in the legal advice, charity and grants sectors prior to joining the ICO.

Kim R. Sylwander is a postdoctoral researcher at the Digital Futures for Children centre at the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Kim’s research has focused on children, youth and media, specifically online hate, racism, sexuality, and online child sexual exploitation and abuse. She has worked for the UN, in civil society and academia and has served as a Government-appointed expert in inquiries on sexual exploitation and the effects of digital media on children in Sweden.

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: Visions for the Future running from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 June 2025, with a series of events exploring the threats and opportunities of the near and distant future, and what a better world could look like. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 19 May.  

The Department of Media and Communications is a world-leading centre for education and research in communication and media studies at the heart of LSE’s academic community in central London.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEFestival