World Children’s Day: Advancing Children’s Online Safety and Well-being Through Standards and Global Collaboration

World Children’s Day, first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day, is celebrated annually on November 20 to promote international togetherness, raise awareness among children worldwide, and advocate for their welfare. At the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA), this mission resonates year-round as we continuously work to understand and support how children engage with the digital world to champion their safety, privacy and well-being, i.e. their rights, through technical and governance standards and global collaboration.

As digital technologies become increasingly embedded in everyday life, children are among the most active and vulnerable users online. Today, one in three internet users is under the age of 18, making the need for safe, trustworthy digital experiences more urgent than ever. From social platforms to educational tools, the digital environments in which children engage must be designed with their developmental needs, privacy, and well-being in mind.

IEEE SA is taking a leadership role in addressing this global challenge. As the standards development arm of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, IEEE SA is working to help ensure that digital products and services are built with children’s best interests at the core.

Through consensus-based standards and strategic partnerships, IEEE SA is helping translate policy principles into practical implementation. This includes frameworks for AI ethics, responsible data practices, and age-appropriate design, all of which aim to create safer, more inclusive digital spaces for children.

Among IEEE SA’s key initiatives is the IEEE 2089 – Standard for Age Appropriate Digital Services Framework, which is based on the 5Rights Principles for Children and aligned with age appropriate design codes in different regions of the world. This standard provides guidance for designing digital environments that align with children’s developmental stages, helping to ensure that platforms are not only safe but also supportive of healthy growth and learning.

Complementing this is the IEEE 2089.1 – Standard for Online Age Verification, which offers a privacy-respecting approach to verifying users’ ages. Together with the IEEE SA Online Age Verification Certification Program, these tools help organizations implement safeguards that protect children while maintaining user trust and data integrity.

IEEE SA’s impact extends beyond technical development into global policy support. As an example, the organization played a pivotal role in helping Indonesia develop its first age-appropriate design regulation that was adopted earlier this year, the first of its kind in Asia and the Global South.

By supporting government stakeholders and drawing on its standards in children’s data governance, IEEE SA helped enable a framework that mandates digital platforms to protect children’s privacy and mitigate online addiction. This landmark regulation represents a significant step forward in global efforts to safeguard young users.

In Europe, IEEE standards are referenced in the Greek National Strategy for the Protection of Minors from Internet Addiction, which had a significant impact on the recently published content of the Guidelines of the European Commission to Article 28.1 of the EU’s Digital Services Act  (referring to online protection of minors). IEEE 2089 was the basis for the CEN/CENELEC Workshop Agreement that has been explicitly referenced in the above mentioned Guidelines to introduce the importance of age appropriate design principles.

IEEE SA’s work goes beyond safety to encompass broader aspects of child well-being, including mental health, education, and ethical design. By fostering a holistic approach, the organization is helping to build digital ecosystems where children can thrive, not just survive.

As the world celebrates World Children’s Day, IEEE SA reaffirms its commitment to advancing technologies and standards that help protect and empower children and young people. Through continued collaboration and innovation, IEEE SA is helping to ensure that children everywhere can explore, learn, and connect online with confidence.

To learn more about how IEEE is enabling trustworthy digital experiences for children, visit the Trustworthy Digital Experiences initiative.