Children’s rights: SA’s digital blind spot

IN SOUTH Africa, a new generation of children is growing up in a world where the digital and physical are inseparable. From smartphones in their pockets to online classrooms, social media, and biometric data collection at school gates, children’s lives are increasingly shaped by technology.

- DR BRIDGET J MACHAKA.

Yet our laws and policies are glaringly out of sync with this reality, a dangerous oversight that puts their safety, privacy, and access to education at risk.

The digital world

The digital revolution is not on the horizon, it is here. Globally, internet usage has surged past five billion people. In Africa, over 590 million people are online, and children make up nearly a third of all internet users. South Africa mirrors this trend, with growing access to smartphones and online platforms reshaping childhood experiences. The digital world is no longer a privilege or a pastime. It is the new public square and playground for children.

Globally, children’s rights frameworks have tried to catch up. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 25 (2021) made it explicit: children’s rights apply online just as they do offline.

The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child echoed this on the Day of the African Child (DAC) 2023 themed “The Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment”. The committee affirmed that the digital space is not exempt from the protections children are entitled to under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

But has South Africa kept pace with this shift? Yes, our Constitution, and the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 guarantee every child’s right to protection and echo the core principles underpinning all children’s rights: nondiscrimination, the best interests of the child, survival and development, and child participation. These principles should guide all measures aimed at realising children’s rights in the digital environment. Yet, in practice, these protections remain more theoretical than tangible in the digital sphere.