The National Human Rights Commission of Lebanon, including the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (NHRC-CPT), announced that it has submitted its contribution to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on children’s rights and safety in the digital environment, as part of the process established by Human Rights Council resolution 56/6.
The Commission also announced that the Sub-Committee on Accreditation Secretariat has acknowledged receipt of its application for consideration at the Sub-Committee’s 49th session, scheduled for 19–30 April 2027.
A comprehensive rights-based approach to children’s digital safety
The Commission’s contribution calls for a comprehensive national framework that protects children from violence, exploitation and digital harm while safeguarding their rights to education, information, privacy, expression and participation. It draws on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 25, the Commission’s report on protecting children in the digital environment, and its advisory opinion of 25 August 2026 on two proposed laws concerning minors’ use of social media.
The Commission stresses that effective protection requires addressing risks associated with platform design, commercial incentives and behavioural profiling, and establishing clear, enforceable responsibilities for service providers. It also requires a funded national strategy connecting regulatory measures with digital education, psychosocial support, specialist investigations and independent oversight.
The submission recommends child rights impact assessments before measures are adopted and after implementation, meaningful participation by children in decision-making, and accessible complaints mechanisms and remedies. It emphasises the protection of privacy and secure communications, and the need for age restrictions to meet requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality, with consideration of less intrusive alternatives.
The contribution also examines AI-related risks, including synthetic abusive imagery, and the effects of recommendation, content moderation and age-assurance systems. It calls for sustained international cooperation that strengthens national capacity and corporate accountability across languages and markets, translating international standards into practical protection for children.
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