Every day, children surf the internet for educational or social networking purposes but, in so doing, they are exposed to privacy-invasive, addictive and manipulative designs that are usually driven by commercial practices. Much of the responsibility for keeping children safe seems to fall on parents rather than on the companies which are using these practices. This is a feeling shared by most consumers: less than one in ten people (8%) feel that enough is being done to protect children in the digital sphere.
As evidence of the online world’s detrimental effects on children’s mental health and development, BEUC has put together a comprehensive set of policy ideas that the EU should adopt to provide a safer online environment for children, including on social networks, in the design of online services, or in the gaming world.