Principle 6:participation

Innovating for child participation in a digital world means creating opportunities for children to form opinions, impart and receive diverse information, and freely join social and political activities. Although these are sometimes overlooked or sacrificed for safety reasons, children’s civil rights and freedoms are vital for their participation in a digital society, no less than for adults. The principle of participation draws together multiple rights:1 • Freedom of expression, including the right to free speech, opinions and political views: both for themselves and to engage with those of others, subject to the rights of others, national security and public order. • Freedom of thought: the ability to form one’s own opinion, decisions and choice of faith, and have this respected and supported, proportionate to the child’s evolving capacities, and not be manipulated, nudged or punished. • Freedom of association and peaceful assembly: the ability to participate freely and safely in social and political activities, including child-led activism, without surveillance or undue restrictions. • Information access: meaning that children can both access and contribute to content of all kinds; this should be easy to find, in their native language, from a plurality of sources, and be beneficial in multiple ways; any restrictions should be transparent and in children’s best interests.