A joint statement has now been published which Together has joined as a signatory. Over two billion children are growing up in a world where AI systems increasingly determine their opportunities, shape their identities, and mediate their relationships, but it is adults, not children, who design the digital world, too often without children’s rights in mind.

The statement is a unified international call, co-signed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and many UN bodies and organisations, urging governments, tech companies, civil society and others to ensure that artificial intelligence is designed, deployed and governed in ways that respect and promote the rights of children. 

It emphasises that children’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child apply fully in AI contexts and that AI presents both opportunities and serious risks for young people. The statement sets out recommendations for child-rights-based AI governance, including legal and policy frameworks, accountability and transparency, protection from harm, data privacy, non-discrimination and inclusion, meaningful participation of children in decisions affecting them, capacity building and education on AI, and the responsible use of AI to support environmental and developmental goals. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, also issued a statement and agreed that children’s rights apply fully in AI-driven environments just as they do offline. He stressed that AI systems increasingly shape children’s education, play, information, and social lives, yet are usually designed without children’s needs or rights in mind. In his statement he called on governments and technology companies to take responsibility for protecting children from harm, safeguarding rights such as privacy, dignity, and freedom of expression, and avoiding exploitative business models. It also emphasised that children should be heard and involved in decisions about how AI technologies that affect them are designed and governed, rather than relying on blanket bans or after-the-fact fixes.  

Read the Joint Statement on AI and the Rights of the Child  

Read the statement from the UN High Commissioner