Overview
- Experts speaking this week, including researchers who led a UNICEF study, said parents often track screen time but not who children contact, what content they view, or which creators shape their views.
- A UNICEF study of 100,000 children in Spain found high rates of 10- to 14-year-olds sharing photos and contacting strangers, a pattern experts say raises risks of grooming and privacy harms.
- Specialists listed the main online threats as cyberbullying, grooming, overexposure of personal data, disinformation and emotional dependence on social platforms.
- Researchers cautioned that recent policies such as school mobile bans in Galicia and proposed age limits in Australia and the UK cannot protect children by themselves because prohibitions can push use to other risky spaces.
- Experts recommend pairing regulation with prevention: industry rules, school digital literacy, and active parental dialogue and supervision to help children spot scams, set limits and ask for help.