PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGOED until 00.01am GMT 11 December 2017
UNICEF: Make the digital world safer for children
–
while
increasing online access to benefit the most disadvantaged
Flagship report highlights digital divides and explores current debates about the impact of the
internet and social media on
children’s
safety and wellbeing
Download photos, videos and a copy of the report:
http://uni.cf/2j2GvHC
NEW YORK, 11 December 2017
–
Despite
children’s
massive online presence
–
1 in 3
internet users worldwide is a child
–
too little is done to protect them from the perils of the
digital world and to increase their access to safe online content, UNICEF said in its annual
flagship report released today.
The State of the
World’s
Children 2017: Children in a digital world
presents
UNICEF’s
first
comprehensive look at the different ways digital technology is affecting
children’s
lives and life
chances, identifying dangers as well as opportunities. It argues that governments and the
private sector have not kept up with the pace of change, exposing children to new risks and
harms and leaving millions of the most disadvantaged children behind.
“For
better
and
for worse, digital technology is now an irreversible fact of our
lives,”
said
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
“In
a digital world, our dual challenge is how to
mitigate the harms while maximizing the benefits of the internet for
every
child.”
The report explores the benefits digital technology can offer the most disadvantaged children,
including those growing up in poverty or affected by humanitarian emergencies. These include
increasing their access to information, building skills for the digital workplace, and giving them
a platform to connect and communicate their views.
But the report shows that millions of children are missing out. Around one third of the
world’s
youth
–
346 million
–
are not online, exacerbating inequities and reducing
children’s
ability to
participate in an increasingly digital economy.
The report also examines how the internet increases
children’s
vulnerability to risks and harms,
including misuse of their private information, access to harmful content, and cyberbullying. The
ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, the report notes, has made online access for many
children less supervised
–
and potentially more dangerous.
And digital networks like the Dark Web and cryptocurrencies are enabling the worst forms of
exploitation and abuse, including trafficking and
‘made
to
order’
online child sexual abuse.
The report presents current data and analysis about
children’s
online usage and the impact of
digital technology on
children’s
wellbeing, exploring growing debates about digital
“addiction”
and the possible effect of screen time on brain development.
Additional facts from the report include:
Young people are the most connected age group. Worldwide, 71 per cent are online
compared with 48 per cent of the total population.