The Government is working on a comprehensive approach to children’s rights in the digital world. The aim is to ensure that children receive the same protection and opportunities online as they do offline. This commitment represents the new Strategy for Children’s Rights Online (currently only available in Dutch), which involves collaboration between various ministries. The strategy consists of five main themes:
1. Legislation, enforcement and compliance
Existing rules must be better aligned with the digital reality of children. The government is committed to the following specific measures:
- Developing new rules against addictive designs in digital services.
- Stricter rules for the game industry, including a possible ban on loot boxes (digital gambling mechanisms) and additional regulations for payment methods, such as pay-to-win mechanisms and the use of digital coins.
- New legislation will be introduced to better regulate digital child labour. This concerns, for example, children engaging in paid work through vlogging or on social media.
- The use of age verification is being explored. Age verification helps prevent children from using digital services that are not age-appropriate.
2. Supporting parents and educators
Parents need practical tools to properly guide their children in the digital world. The government supports parents and educators through various initiatives:
- A campaign, Stay in the Picture, will highlight the opportunities and risks of digital media and provides practical tips for parents on how to guide their children effectively.
- A special platform has been created in collaboration with Netwerk Mediawijsheid (Network Media Wisdom): jouwkindonline.nl (English translation available on this site). This platform contains tips, personal stories and accessible information for parents.
- The possibility of including an ‘information leaflet’ with the sale of devices such as smartphones and tablets, containing helpful information for parents, is also being explored.
- Work is also underway on Gamecheck, a tool designed to help parents and young people assess whether a game is suitable to play.
- Children’s Rights Impact Assessments (KIA’s) are being carried out to assess the impact of digital services such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. This encourages discussion about the risks and opportunities.
- A guideline for healthy screen use has been developed. This helps parents and youth care practitioners with practical advice on online media education.
3. Education as the foundation for digital resilience
By focusing on digital skills and risks at school, children become more empowered and aware online. The government is therefore committed to the following measures:
- The digital skills curriculum at school will undergo changes in the near future, emphasising three main areas: practical knowledge about digital systems and privacy, learning to create and design with digital technology, and reflecting on the impact of technology on people and society.
- A national agreement, known as the No, Unless policy, is in place to keep smartphones and other devices out of the classroom where possible. This will ensure that pupils can focus better, become more sociable and feel safer at school.
- There is considerable scope for libraries to play a greater supporting role in education, with digital literacy being given a more solid and structural place within the Library at School programme. The infrastructure for this is already in place: libraries collaborate with over 85% of all primary schools and 56% of all secondary schools.
4. Involving children, young people, and educators as partners
Policies work better when the voices of children and their carers are taken seriously. The government is addressing this through the following measures:
- The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) has asked UNICEF to set up a Youth Council on Digitalisation. This will enable young people to actively contribute to policy and solutions.
- In addition, opportunities are being sought to better involve parents and educators through the establishment of an Online Children’s Rights Parent Council. This will also allow their experiences and ideas to be taken into account.
- Support and projects empowering young people in the digital world must be closely aligned with their online lives. That is why young people are working with experts to develop ways to tackle online bullying, hate speech and inappropriate behaviour.
- A monitor is being developed to map how children between the ages of 7 and 12 interact with media and how parents guide them in this process. This complements the existing monitor for children aged 0 to 6. This monitor helps better understand what is going on and tailor policy accordingly. The possibility of a children’s rights scan is also being explored, which would provide broader information on the state of online children’s rights in relation to well-being.
5. Facilitating and strengthening collaboration between network partners
Protecting children effectively online requires close cooperation between government, industry, education, regulatory bodies, and civil society organisations. Many stakeholders are already active in this field and have proven their value. These partners are brought together regularly to share knowledge and make better use of existing initiatives. During these meetings, attention is also paid to current developments and signals, so that regulators can perform their work as effectively as possible.
Various ministries working together
The following ministries are collaborating on the theme of children’s rights online, each from their own area of responsibility: Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK), Education, Culture and Science (OCW), Economic Affairs (EZ), Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), Justice and Security (JenV), Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) and Finance.
