Children and teens are some of the most active internet users, yet they often have the least say in how their data is collected, how their content is moderated, or how their voices are represented. The digital world wasn’t designed with youth rights at the forefront — but maybe it should be.
Key Rights in Question
Privacy: Should companies be able to track youth activity the way they do adults?
Consent: Can young people meaningfully agree to terms and conditions they don’t understand?
Expression: How do we balance protection from harm with freedom to create and speak?
Safety: What responsibilities do platforms have in preventing exploitation and cyberbullying?
Ownership: Who owns a teen’s digital creations — the teen, the platform, or both?
Canadian Context
Patchwork laws: Canada lacks a unified “Children’s Online Bill of Rights.”
Global comparisons: The EU’s GDPR has stricter rules for youth data; the U.S. has COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act).
Emerging debates: Provinces are grappling with youth digital privacy in schools, especially around online learning platforms.
The Opportunities
Youth-informed policy: Including children and teens in the design of digital rights frameworks.
Education: Teaching kids not just how to use tech, but how to understand their digital rights.
Stronger safeguards: Clearer age-based protections for consent, advertising, and surveillance.
Transparency: Platforms could be required to explain, in plain language, how data is used.
The Bigger Picture
Digital rights for children and teens are about more than screen time limits. They’re about recognizing that youth are citizens in a digital society — entitled to protection, agency, and respect.
The Question
What would a “Digital Charter for Youth” in Canada look like — and who should be responsible for enforcing it?
Digital Rights for Children and Teens
Why This Matters
Children and teens are some of the most active internet users, yet they often have the least say in how their data is collected, how their content is moderated, or how their voices are represented. The digital world wasn’t designed with youth rights at the forefront — but maybe it should be.
Key Rights in Question
Canadian Context
The Opportunities
The Bigger Picture
Digital rights for children and teens are about more than screen time limits. They’re about recognizing that youth are citizens in a digital society — entitled to protection, agency, and respect.
The Question
What would a “Digital Charter for Youth” in Canada look like — and who should be responsible for enforcing it?