What is the status of digital children’s rights?
In this Digital Child Rights Monitor we give insight how the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) addressed digital child rights in its 2022 Concluding Observations on Somalia. The priority scale reflects how strongly the CRC highlights an issue in its recommendations — the higher the score, the bigger or more pressing the problem. This scale helps visualize which digital child rights issues the CRC considers most urgent and where Somalia faces its greatest challenges. If a country gets a low urgency score it does not necessarily mean the country is doing good, it just means the CRC made little to no mention to it.
Summary
High priority
Infrastructure & Capacity (4) stands out as the primary area of concern, with emphasis on digitalized systems and training of professionals, indicating gaps in both technological infrastructure and human capacity.
Medium priority
Online Safety & Protection (2) and Violence & Exploitation Online (2) receive moderate attention. The focus is on awareness campaigns on safe internet use and online sexual exploitation (CSAM), suggesting emerging recognition of both preventive and protection-related challenges.
Low priority
Digital Access & Participation (0), Privacy & Data Protection (0), and Digital Health & Well-being (0) are not addressed in the data. This absence indicates limited visibility and prioritisation of access, data rights, and wellbeing-related issues.
Overview themes
- Digital Access & Participation
- Digital Health & Well-Being
- Infrastructure & Capacity
- Online Safety & Protection
- Privacy & Data Protection
- Violence & Exploitation Online
Infrastructure & Capacity emerges as the most urgent theme, highlighting key gaps in digital systems and professional capacity. Online Safety & Protection and Violence & Exploitation Online receive moderate attention, with a focus on awareness raising and risks related to online sexual exploitation. Other areas, including Digital Access & Participation, Privacy & Data Protection, and Digital Health & Well-being, are not addressed in the available data. This distribution suggests an uneven focus, with structural and protection issues prioritised while broader rights and wellbeing dimensions remain overlooked.
Violence and exploitation
- Discriminatory Violence
- Online Harrasment and Bullying
- Online sexual exploitation / CSAM
- Trafficking / exploitation through digital platforms
Violence & Exploitation Online also shows moderate urgency (2), driven solely by concerns related to online sexual exploitation and CSAM. This highlights serious risks to children in digital environments. At the same time, other forms of harm, such as harassment or trafficking, are not mentioned, suggesting limited coverage of the broader spectrum of online risks.
Infrastructure and capacity
- Cybercrime & Cybersecurity laws
- Digitalized systems
- Training of professionals on online offences
Infrastructure & Capacity emerges as the most prominent theme (4), with attention focused on digitalized systems and training of professionals. This indicates gaps in both technological infrastructure and the capacity of stakeholders to address digital challenges. The findings suggest a need to strengthen both systems and human resources to better support children’s digital rights.
Digital health and wellbeing
Digital Health & Well-being receives no attention (0), with no mention of mental health impacts, screen time, or support services. This suggests that the effects of digital environments on children’s wellbeing are not currently considered. The lack of data points to an important gap in understanding and addressing these issues.
Online safety and protection
Online Safety & Protection receives moderate attention (2), with a focus on awareness campaigns on safe internet use. This suggests some recognition of the importance of preventive measures. However, other areas such as safeguarding policies and complaint mechanisms are not addressed, indicating gaps in comprehensive protection frameworks.
Privacy and data protection
Privacy & Data Protection is not addressed in the data (0), with no references to issues such as data protection, surveillance, or children’s privacy rights. This indicates a significant gap in attention to how children’s personal data is managed and safeguarded. The absence likely reflects shortcomings in both policy focus and reporting.
Digital access and participation
The data shows no attention to Digital Access & Participation (0). Key areas such as digital divide, e-learning, and inclusive access are not addressed. This absence suggests limited visibility into whether children can access and meaningfully engage in digital environments.
Concluding Observations CRC
- “Raise awareness of public, religious and traditional leaders to combat the stigmatization of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, and keep children safe online.”
- “Establish a data-collection system both at the national and federal member State levels and ensure that data collected on children’s rights covers all areas of the Convention, with data disaggregated by age, sex, disability, geographical location, ethnic and national origin, clan affiliation and socioeconomic background, in order to “
- “Ensure that all professionals working with and for children, in particular social workers, law enforcement officials, health-care personnel, immigration and asylum officers, professionals and staff working with children deprived of a family environment, as well as the media, receive mandatory training on the rights of the child under the Convention.”
Somalia
2022
Digital Child Rights Network
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