The article identifies emerging policy challenges brought in the new technology era, where children’s use of digital devices and their presence in virtual spaces are no longer recreational but an everyday necessity. In this new reality, children’s developmental vulnerabilities are prone to exploitation by private sector entities’ that prioritize profit over the wellbeing of users, compromising their health, safety and emotional development.
The article identifies a systemic policy failure, where lawmakers have fallen behind the private sector in understanding and incorporating scientific findings on children’s unique attributes, needs and vulnerabilities into policies that regulate these technologies – compromising children’s safety in the digital sphere, where they spend the majority of their time. It highlights the urgent need for integral interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists and law/policy experts to effectively address these challenges, translating scientific findings into concrete evidence-based regulatory and monitoring policies that can effectively protect children when using digital platforms, including social media, video games, and FinTech applications.
0 Comments