Osinbajo, African lawyers seek accountability from tech firms over risks to children

Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and African legal experts have called for greater accountability from technology companies over digital products and platforms that expose children to harmful content, exploitation and other online risks.

They made the call on Monday at a high-level session on children’s digital rights during the 16th Annual Conference of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) taking place in Cairo, Egypt, between 31 August and September.

The session, titled “Guardrails, Not Gates: Protecting Children in the Digital Age,” was convened by the Justice Research Institute (JRI) in collaboration with the African Alliance for People-Centred Justice and with support from Luminate. The Director of People-Centred Justice at JRI, Foluso Idumu-Shado, shared the details with PREMIUM TIMES in a statement on Wednesday.

The experts examined a proposed Cairo Declaration on Child Rights and Design Accountability in the Digital Age, which seeks to establish common standards for the design and regulation of digital products used by children across Africa.

Mr Osinbajo, who chaired the session, noted that companies should not shift the responsibility for risks built into their products to children and their parents.

“We cannot build digital environments in which the risks are engineered into the product and then expect children and parents to carry the responsibility for managing those risks,” he said.

He said the focus should be on creating digital environments that let children benefit from technology without unnecessarily exposing them to its dangers.

“The objective is not to build gates that exclude children from technology. It is to establish guardrails that ensure technology works for children rather than exploiting their vulnerabilities,” he said.

The discussion comes amid growing concern over children’s exposure to harmful content, exploitation, manipulation and misuse of personal data online.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child addressed children’s rights in the digital environment in General Comment No. 25, issued in 2021. The guidance covers issues arising from technologies including artificial intelligence, algorithms, data analytics and connected devices.

In 2024, the African Union adopted its Child Online Safety and Empowerment Policy, which recognises children’s rights to safety, privacy and participation online and calls for their best interests to guide efforts to improve the digital environment.

The proposed Cairo Declaration seeks to build on those efforts by placing greater emphasis on the obligations of companies that design and develop digital technologies.

According to the statement, delegates discussed emerging threats facing children and the difficulty of regulating digital platforms while preserving access to their benefits and avoiding excessive surveillance.

They reviewed and prioritised six proposed pillars for the declaration.

These include safety-by-design requirements for digital products used by children, restrictions on exploitative targeting and manipulative practices, age-appropriate design standards, and greater transparency around algorithms capable of amplifying harmful content or behaviour.

The proposals also include stronger safeguards for children’s personal data and age-assurance systems designed to protect minors while respecting privacy and other fundamental rights.

JRI said African countries should have a stronger voice in determining the rules governing technologies increasingly used by children on the continent.

“Children in Africa are entering a digital environment largely designed elsewhere. We must ensure that African children are not merely protected from the consequences of technology but that their rights and interests are considered in how digital technologies are designed, deployed and regulated,” the statement stated.

It added that the declaration could give African lawyers, regulators, civil society organisations and technology stakeholders a common continental position while allowing individual countries to develop laws suited to their circumstances.

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Following the session, a consolidated draft of the Cairo Declaration, incorporating amendments and priorities raised by delegates, was presented to the PALU leadership for consideration.

The initiative also proposes model laws and regulatory instruments that national legislatures, data protection authorities and other regulators could adapt to their jurisdictions.

JRI said a working group on child-centred digital governance had been established following the Cairo meeting. The group will include PALU delegates, member bars and other relevant experts, while JRI will serve as its technical secretariat.

Further consultations on the declaration and proposed legal instruments are expected to continue, with progress scheduled for review at PALU’s 17th Annual Conference.

The initiative ultimately seeks to move responsibility beyond parents and children and towards the companies that design the digital environments in which children increasingly live and learn.