World Children’s Day: digital futures for children – children’s rights under pressure in the digital environment

In 2021, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child introduced General Comment No. 25 on children’s rights in the digital environment, marking a milestone in aligning child rights with the digital age. But what real impact has it had?

Join our discussion of new in-depth research findings by the Digital Futures for Children centre, which tracked the recognition, uptake, and implementation of children’s rights in an increasingly connected world. Drawing from UN treaty monitoring, national policies, regional frameworks, and civil society advocacy, the panel will consider how international law influences policy and practice, recognising progress, obstacles, and pathways for change.

Meet our speakers and chair

Gerison Lansdown is an international consultant and advocate, publishing and lecturing widely on the subject of children’s rights. She has worked with the Committee on the Rights of the Child on several general comments, including on the rights of children to be heard, to play, during adolescence, and in the digital environment, and was involved in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She is an adjunct professor at Carleton University Canada, as well as at University College Cork, has an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University, Carleton University and the University of East London, an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire.

Kim 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.

Gastón Wright is an expert in digital rights and public policy. He is Director of Civic Compass, a think tank that studies how data protection, content moderation, and online safety shape the civic space. Previously, he launched Change.org in the Southern Cone, worked as Public Policy Manager for Meta in Latin America, and spent 12 years at Ashoka, where he led the global expansion of Changemaker.com. He holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Toronto and teaches Internet Regulation at Torcuato Di Tella University and the University of Buenos Aires.

Sonia Livingstone (@Livingstone_S) is a full professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. She has published 20 books and advised the UK government, European Commission, European Parliament, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Council of Europe and UNICEF on media audiences, children and young people’s risks and opportunities, media literacy and rights in the digital environment. She directs the Digital Futures for Children centre.

More about this event

The Digital Futures for Children centre facilitates research for a rights-respecting digital world for children. This joint LSE and 5Rights research centre supports an evidence base for advocacy, facilitates dialogue between academics and policymakers, and amplifies children’s voices, following the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General comment No. 25.

The Department of Media and Communications (@MediaLSE) 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.

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