Topic: 2025 – Protecting and Empowering Youth in Digital Spaces
Country: Poland
Delegate Name: Bela Haight
Human Rights Committee
Protecting and Empowering Youth in Digital Spaces
Republic of Poland
Bela Haight
City High School
In recent years, the rapid expansion of the internet has become even more evident, and has played a role in reshaping how new generations of young people communicate, learn, and participate as a society.
While digital spaces have the potential to create impactful social change, connect families and friends, and provide access to information that many people would not otherwise have, there are still many drawbacks, especially when it comes to childhood access. Children and teens with unrestricted access to the internet consistently experience bullying, depression, exploitation, misinformation, and harmful content. These disadvantages are only the beginning of the harmful effects that unlimited consumption of social media can have on young people. The Pew Research Center reports that 96% of teenagers report daily use of social media, and 95% of teenagers have access to a smartphone, and although many countries have a minimum age of 13 to access social media, 38% of tweens use these resources anyways.
As a member of the European Union and a supporter of international human rights, The Republic of Poland acknowledges the importance of the protection of youth in these unexplored territories that are brought up in this highly digital age. Poland aligns it’s national policies with those existing frameworks outlined such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), specifically articles 13, 16, 17, and 34, all which detail rights corresponding to those in digital spaces, such as access to information, privacy, and the protection from exploitation. Poland also follows the EU law using the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA came into legislation in 2022, and established an overarching framework for these digital spaces upholding accountability, transparency, and content moderation. Both the DSA and GDPR strengthen privacy and have requirements for platforms to protect minors from illegal and harmful content. Despite these efforts, fully protecting the youth from harmful aspects of the digital world is increasingly difficult with how quickly these spaces change, and the lack of knowledge for laws to be able to keep pace with the ever changing internet.
Poland believes that youth must be protected and empowered. Digital spaces should not only be safe, but should also help children develop the skills necessary to participate in a modern democratic society. In order to do so, Poland emphasizes the importance of education around media literacy being taught to young people. When it comes to the internet, protection and access cannot be treated as opposing goals, but rather the goal being to reach a balance. The most long term digital protection possible is education, which is why Polish government has expanded media-literacy and cyber-safety curricula in primary and secondary schools and supports HRC efforts to promote global digital-literacy standards. Aside from education, Poland emphasizes the importance of clear international expectations for companies whose platforms are used by minors. Poland supports developing UN-backed guidance for safe design standards that nations can adapt to their legal systems.
Bibliography:
Stone, A. (2024, September 24). Protecting Vulnerable Children | Advocating for the rights of children. Hopeland. https://ourhopeland.org/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=664685463&gbraid=0AAAAADQGKromNvRxnQq2wFMVYEzL-Otea&gclid=CjwKCAiA55rJBhByEiwAFkY1QFv8uZipIKhtBJ8sjQOaATL_NjA_NFfEpx-fHO9Mdyer-OzFU_bWRhoCFgsQAvD_BwE
Atske, S. (2025, August 14). Teens and Social Media Fact sheet. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/teens-and-social-media-fact-sheet/?tabId=tab-7c5235eb-c885-4465-9eb2-6d1cf388423b
Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) illustrated — CRIN. (n.d.). CRIN. https://home.crin.org/rights-gallery-the-convention
Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) illustrated — CRIN. (n.d.-b). CRIN. https://home.crin.org/rights-gallery-the-convention
