Dear Kathleen, Gabriela, dear colleagues – good morning,

I am honoured and pleased to be part of this event to address a pressing issue that requires our urgent attention and collaborative efforts - the rights of the child in the digital environment.

The EU and GRULAC have a longstanding tradition of cooperation and leadership on the rights of the child. For many years, we have jointly put forward the resolution on the Rights of the Child in the General Assembly Third Committee on important topics that have contributed to strengthen promotion, protection and respect for the Rights of the Child.

This year, the focus of our joint resolution is “Children’s rights in the digital environment”. Our goal is to build a growing global consensus around the need to ensure that the digital environment can contribute to support and empower children on an equal basis, but also minimize the risks that children are exposed to in the digital world.

In this regard, we want to build on and complement previous resolutions in the Third Committee, such as the "Right to Privacy in the Digital Age" and "Protecting Children from Bullying” as well as General Comment No. 25 (2021) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, on children's rights in relation to the digital environment.

Let me start by recognizing that the internet has truly revolutionised the way we access information, learn, communicate and interact with each other. It is part of our daily lives and offers tremendous benefits to children, opening new channels for education, creativity and social interaction. But not all children have equal access to the internet and digital technologies. As the EU, we are determined to tackle the digital divide and ensure that children all across the world have access to the opportunities that digital technologies offer.

At the same time, we must be honest about the risks and potential harm that children are exposed to in the digital environment - such as exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, fraud, abuse and exploitation, even sexual exploitation, violence and abuse.

It is important to emphasise that the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) applies also online, and must guide or work and efforts to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of children.

While states have the primary duty to safeguard human rights of all individuals, including children, private actors and corporations also have important responsibilities. They must ensure the design, operation and use of the digital environment is safe for children and protects their privacy and well-being.

We must step up our collectively efforts and take effective measures to address these risks and promote efforts that protect the physical and mental health and wellbeing of children. We cannot ignore the profound impact that the digital environment, particularly social media, has on the mental health of children. It is our duty to implement effective measures that prevent any detrimental consequences on their well-being and development.

Collaboration between law enforcement and private sector stakeholders in this area is crucial in order to detect and remove criminal and harmful content, as well as abusive marketing. We also need to strengthen cooperation to investigate and prosecute crimes online.

In the EU, we are taking determined steps in this direction [to regulate, minimize and address the risks and harms that children are exposed to online]. But the internet has no borders, and we must work together at the global level, in order to be successful. We are eager to promote and contribute to global discussion on this important issue.

We hope that the joint resolution with GRULAC in the Third Committee will contribute to move these discussions forward. We hope for strong active engagement and support for this resolution. And we look forward to hear, and learn from, the panellists today.

Thank you.