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Summarised by Centrist
A new Science paper is pushing back against the growing fashion for blanket social media bans and heavy-handed surveillance of teenagers, arguing that such measures may undermine the very trust children need if they are to stay safe online.
Instead of treating young people as passive risks to be controlled, the authors argue for a more child-centred approach built around rights, agency and wellbeing.
The paper, by Sandra Cortesi, argues that policymakers should move beyond simple bans and instead require platforms to be designed in child-friendly ways from the outset. The four approaches they identify are fostering trust, making it easier for children to seek help or report harm, building on-device supports, and strengthening education and interface design.
The paper’s basic claim is that when children feel watched, shut out or treated as problems to be managed, they may hide what is happening rather than ask adults for help.
TUM says the group sees a role for on-device AI prompts that can warn older teens when they seem to be drifting towards risky behaviour, provided the analysis happens on the device and is not sent back to operators. Schools, meanwhile, are urged to treat children as participants in digital safety, not just recipients of lectures.
However, the authors themselves acknowledge a lack of long-term studies, too much reliance on self-reported behaviour, and major blind spots outside Europe and North America.
