Youth protection through inclusion and empowerment: a rebuttal of the exclusion-based narrative

  • Panel
  • Orangerie
  • Wednesday 20.05 — 10:30 - 11:45

Organising Institution

European Digital Rights (EDRi)

Europe

The EDRi network is a dynamic and resilient collective of 50+ NGOs, experts, advocates and academics working to defend and advance digital rights across the continent. For 20+ years, it has served as the backbone of the digital rights movement and has achieved landmark successes in digital rights in Europe. EDRi‘s mission is to challenge private and state actors who abuse their power to control or manipulate the public. We do so by advocating for robust and enforced laws, informing and mobilising people, promoting a healthy and accountable technology market, and building a movement of organisations and individuals committed to digital rights and freedoms in a connected world.
  • Academic 2
  • Business 1
  • Policy 3
While the risks and harms of online spaces are being discussed at length in contemporary debates of youth protection, their benefits are often not part of the equation. Whether the focus is on social networks, messaging apps or chatbots, the debates lean towards highly paternalistic/protectionist approaches, often without questioning who defines harm and whose voices are centred. This panel will delve into the benefits and positive impact of the ‘online world’ on youth – and in particular on marginalised youth – and will make a case for strategies which support healthy development without being at the expense of their empowerment, agency, or fundamental rights. At a time where half of the world population is under 30 years old, we make a case for centring diverse youth voices as legitimate and autonomous decision-makers, not as an afterthought.

Questions to be answered

  1. How can we ensure that the benefits the youth gets out of online spaces outweigh the negative impact these online spaces can have on them?
  2. Offering help vs imposing control: what does ‘protection’ mean, and how much of it can/should be imposed onto young people, as opposed to giving them the means to protect themselves ?
  3. What harms does age verification cause beyond what it claims to protect against?
  4. What infrastructure is needed for prevention and holistic help?

Moderator

Yassine Chagh

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Intersex Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO) - International

Yassine is a non-elitist anti-racism expert and digital rights advocate working at the intersection of racial justice, queer liberation, AI governance, surveillance, and youth centred technology policies. Their expertise is grounded in lived experience as a Queer Indigenous, Migrant, & Black/PoC, and strengthened through grassroots movements and global organisations.

Speaker

Luisa Franco Machado

Equilabs - Brazil

Luísa is an award-winning digital rights advocate and founder of EquiLabs, a youth-led digital rights lab reimagining data and AI governance globally with an intersectional lens. She currently serves as a Vice Chair for the IEEE Standard for AI Systems Impacting Children WG. Previously, she has shaped AI and data policy at the UN, GIZ, OECD.AI, and governments across the world. As a UN-appointed Young Leader for the SDGs, she has been recognized by the UN as a key activist for digital rights and AI justice globally. Her work as an activist and thought leader has earned global recognition, including being named a Rising Star on Apolitical's Government AI 100 2025, Future Minds’ 25 Under 25, and ISOC’s Internet Governance Under 30. Her research at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Sciences Po Paris advanced high-level decisions on AI ethics and data policy, and her advocacy has reached over 10 million people globally.

Speaker

Siméon de Brouwer

European Digital Rights (EDRi) - Belgium

Simeon covers topics related to the protection of minors online for EDRi, such as initiatives around age verification. He also supports EDRi's work on platforms’ power and their responsibilities with regard to users’ wellbeing. Before joining EDRi, Simeon was at DG JUST, where he co-drafted a Regulation and its impact assessment, and at the European Parliament, where he worked on files related to data protection, civil liberties, and consumer protection.

Speaker

Stefi Richani

Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice - Belgium

Equinox is a queer, feminist, racial justice organisation working towards societies of care, not control. Our goal is to shift power, policies and resources away from punitive and discriminatory policies harming marginalised communities and toward societies of care. Stefi (Advocacy Lead) is a Brussels-based policy analyst working across racial justice, migration, digital and gender issues.

Speaker

Felix Reda

Github - International

Felix Reda (he/they) is Senior Director of Developer Policy at GitHub. He has been shaping digital policy for over ten years, including serving as a Member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2019. His areas of interest encompass copyright, freedom of expression, and the sustainability of the open-source ecosystem. Felix serves on the boards of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF). He holds an M.A. in Political Science and Communications Science from the University of Mainz, Germany.