BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 23. The response to digital threats must be shaped by global cooperation, Vladanka Andreeva, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, said at an international conference titled "Protecting children in the digital environment: Modern tools and international cooperation" in Baku, organized by the State Committee for Family, Women, and Children’s Affairs, Trend reports.
She noted that digital platforms and artificial intelligence are increasingly shaping a new childhood.
According to her, for children and teenagers, digital technologies are fully integrated into their daily lives – learning, communicating, playing, exploring their identities, and understanding the world and themselves.
"With the digital transformation comes new and rapidly evolving risks that are often invisible to adults, amplified by algorithms, and can cross borders in seconds. Children are exposed to harmful impacts online at a scale and speed that existing protection systems were not designed to handle. These risks include exposure to harmful relationships, cyberbullying, stalking, child grooming and sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and blackmail.
These threats can also deepen inequalities and exclusion, and children in vulnerable situations are hit hardest. These include children with physical or mental disabilities, children living in institutions, children deprived of parental care, children from low-income families, and children facing discrimination.
No country can fully address these challenges alone," she added.
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