Children’s rights under pressure in a digital world: Proceedings of the International Communication Association pre-conference held in Cape Town, South Africa
"This collection offers conceptual and empirical support for children's rights in digital environments. In this way, this work helps bridge the gap between the child rights principles embedded in General comment No. 25, and practice. The anthology is split into five sections: participation, regulation, family, commercial interests and new technology. We invite readers to engage with the papers - to use the short biographical notes for all contributors at the end of this volume, and seek ongoing conversation and collaboration." (https://www.digital-futures-for-children.net)
Introduction / Gazal Shekhawat, Kim R. Sylwander & Sonia Livingstone, 8
THEME 1: PARTICIPATION, 12
Digital protagonism and children’s protagonism in digital environments in Latin America / Rocío López Ordosgoitia, Luis E. Santana, Néstor David Polo, María Fernanda Moncayo-Racines, Jazmín Mazó Torrico & Manuela Rivera, 13
Transnational teen perspectives on child rights in digital ecosystems: A youth-centred approach / Katrine Krogh Pedersen, Rotem Landesman & Katie Davis, 19
Children’s participation in digital environments: Forming digital publics through media-based activism / Louise Xie, Kyooeun Jang, Elaine Jeon, Lauren Jade Arnold & Robin Stevens, 26
Digital justice from the margins: Child-led governance, AI accountability and digital inequality in South Africa / C. Anzio Jacobs, 32
Towards meaningful child participation: Indonesian children’s navigation of rights, protection and participation in digital environments / Aisyah Novanarima, & Sylvana Maria Apituley, 38
Navigating digital dangers: A youth-led study on technology-facilitated gender-based violence among adolescents in Johannesburg / Zanele Sokatsha, 44
Children’s Rights, SEL, and Everyday Digital Life in Lebanon: Aligning Digital Play with Policy and Practice / Garene Kaloustian & Joe F. Khalil, 48
THEME 2: REGULATION
Age-based social media banning: Discrimination based on childhood? / Timisha Dadhich, & Therese Boje Mortensen,
54
Harm blindness in digital child protection policy: A systematic stakeholder, sentinel and legal analysis of Australia’s under-16 social media ban / Travis Gilly, & Rene Mattheus, 60
Children’s information environments and digital agency under Australia’s social media age ban /
Daniel Angus, Kateryna Kasianenko, Ashwin Nagappa, Shir Weinbrand, Mario Haim, & Axel Bruns, 66
‘It just feels a bit unfair for this to happen, and for us to have no control over it’: Young people’s responses to Australia’s social media minimum age legislation / Kim Osman, Michael Dezuanni, Lynrose Jane Genon, & Daniel Angus, 72
Protected into silence: How digital safety discourses undermine children’s rights / Lilla Garayová, 79
Evaluating the role of the Cybercrimes Act No. 19 of 2020 in protecting children’s exposure to online hate crime in South Africa / Tloane Athele, 83
THEME 3: FAMILY, 88
Sharenting or shielding? New Arab mothers’ perspectives on children’s rights in the digital age (a quasi-experimental study) / Yasmeen Alyeldeen Mohammed el Mahdy Hanafy, Marwa Mahmoud Gamal El-Din & Aya Sherif Ismail, 89
Negotiating commercial interests and child welfare: How German mothers present their children on social media / Claudia Wegener, Julia Lück-Benz & Matthias Hufgard, 93
From mediated to mediators: Children’s agency in the formation of family media practices / Nele Janssens, & Kathleen Beullens, 99
Beyond blocking: A collaborative model for tackling longitudinal harm in children’s social media feeds / Daniela Fernandez Gonzalez & Mike Bennett, 104
To govern and to care: A mixed-method study of urban Chinese adolescents’ online opportunities and risks in the context of Guan parenting / Cecilia Yuxi Zhou, 111
THEME 4: COMMERCIAL INTERESTS, 119
Children’s creative labour in the digital age: Rights, risks and regulation / Emily Coleman, 120
An ethnographic exploration of children’s reception of the kidfluencer phenomenon from a consumer socialisation perspective / Yana Degroote, Liselot Hudders, Marloes de Brabandere & Tom De Leyn, 126
Opportunities and risks in the digital gaming ecosystem: Insights from Brazil and the UK / Ivelise Fortim, 134
Between school and the internet: An intersectoral analysis of policies for the prevention of school and digital violence against children and adolescents in Brazil / Taiza Ramos de Souza Costa Ferreira, 139
Ensuring safe, private and age-appropriate GenAI tools: Whose responsibilities? / Giovanna Mascheroni, 144
THEME 5: NEW TECHNOLOGY, 148
Recommendations from US adolescents for trustworthy chatbot designs / Celeste Campos-Castillo, Yevgenia Minchuk & Linnea I. Laestadius, 149
Digital creation, consumption and generative AI: Children’s rights under pressure in Latin America / Ana Laura Martinez, Luisa Adib & Fabio Senne, 155
Relational integrity as a child’s right: Truthful relational signals, relational depth and governance boundaries in child–AI interaction / Matthew Agustin, 161
Algorithmic childhoods: Moving beyond protectionist framings toward children’s rights in the digital era / Marie Griffiths, & Rachel McLean, 168
THEME 1: PARTICIPATION, 12
Digital protagonism and children’s protagonism in digital environments in Latin America / Rocío López Ordosgoitia, Luis E. Santana, Néstor David Polo, María Fernanda Moncayo-Racines, Jazmín Mazó Torrico & Manuela Rivera, 13
Transnational teen perspectives on child rights in digital ecosystems: A youth-centred approach / Katrine Krogh Pedersen, Rotem Landesman & Katie Davis, 19
Children’s participation in digital environments: Forming digital publics through media-based activism / Louise Xie, Kyooeun Jang, Elaine Jeon, Lauren Jade Arnold & Robin Stevens, 26
Digital justice from the margins: Child-led governance, AI accountability and digital inequality in South Africa / C. Anzio Jacobs, 32
Towards meaningful child participation: Indonesian children’s navigation of rights, protection and participation in digital environments / Aisyah Novanarima, & Sylvana Maria Apituley, 38
Navigating digital dangers: A youth-led study on technology-facilitated gender-based violence among adolescents in Johannesburg / Zanele Sokatsha, 44
Children’s Rights, SEL, and Everyday Digital Life in Lebanon: Aligning Digital Play with Policy and Practice / Garene Kaloustian & Joe F. Khalil, 48
THEME 2: REGULATION
Age-based social media banning: Discrimination based on childhood? / Timisha Dadhich, & Therese Boje Mortensen,
54
Harm blindness in digital child protection policy: A systematic stakeholder, sentinel and legal analysis of Australia’s under-16 social media ban / Travis Gilly, & Rene Mattheus, 60
Children’s information environments and digital agency under Australia’s social media age ban /
Daniel Angus, Kateryna Kasianenko, Ashwin Nagappa, Shir Weinbrand, Mario Haim, & Axel Bruns, 66
‘It just feels a bit unfair for this to happen, and for us to have no control over it’: Young people’s responses to Australia’s social media minimum age legislation / Kim Osman, Michael Dezuanni, Lynrose Jane Genon, & Daniel Angus, 72
Protected into silence: How digital safety discourses undermine children’s rights / Lilla Garayová, 79
Evaluating the role of the Cybercrimes Act No. 19 of 2020 in protecting children’s exposure to online hate crime in South Africa / Tloane Athele, 83
THEME 3: FAMILY, 88
Sharenting or shielding? New Arab mothers’ perspectives on children’s rights in the digital age (a quasi-experimental study) / Yasmeen Alyeldeen Mohammed el Mahdy Hanafy, Marwa Mahmoud Gamal El-Din & Aya Sherif Ismail, 89
Negotiating commercial interests and child welfare: How German mothers present their children on social media / Claudia Wegener, Julia Lück-Benz & Matthias Hufgard, 93
From mediated to mediators: Children’s agency in the formation of family media practices / Nele Janssens, & Kathleen Beullens, 99
Beyond blocking: A collaborative model for tackling longitudinal harm in children’s social media feeds / Daniela Fernandez Gonzalez & Mike Bennett, 104
To govern and to care: A mixed-method study of urban Chinese adolescents’ online opportunities and risks in the context of Guan parenting / Cecilia Yuxi Zhou, 111
THEME 4: COMMERCIAL INTERESTS, 119
Children’s creative labour in the digital age: Rights, risks and regulation / Emily Coleman, 120
An ethnographic exploration of children’s reception of the kidfluencer phenomenon from a consumer socialisation perspective / Yana Degroote, Liselot Hudders, Marloes de Brabandere & Tom De Leyn, 126
Opportunities and risks in the digital gaming ecosystem: Insights from Brazil and the UK / Ivelise Fortim, 134
Between school and the internet: An intersectoral analysis of policies for the prevention of school and digital violence against children and adolescents in Brazil / Taiza Ramos de Souza Costa Ferreira, 139
Ensuring safe, private and age-appropriate GenAI tools: Whose responsibilities? / Giovanna Mascheroni, 144
THEME 5: NEW TECHNOLOGY, 148
Recommendations from US adolescents for trustworthy chatbot designs / Celeste Campos-Castillo, Yevgenia Minchuk & Linnea I. Laestadius, 149
Digital creation, consumption and generative AI: Children’s rights under pressure in Latin America / Ana Laura Martinez, Luisa Adib & Fabio Senne, 155
Relational integrity as a child’s right: Truthful relational signals, relational depth and governance boundaries in child–AI interaction / Matthew Agustin, 161
Algorithmic childhoods: Moving beyond protectionist framings toward children’s rights in the digital era / Marie Griffiths, & Rachel McLean, 168
