Protection of minors and safety by design
Children and teenagers are spending more of their daily lives online, for entertainment, learning, socializing, and self-expression. The digital world offers enormous opportunities but also exposes young users to risks ranging from harmful content and unsafe interactions to excessive screen time and addictive design. Policymakers, platforms, regulators, and civil society are all grappling with how to balance access, protection, and empowerment. This third episode of the Digital Fairness Series aimed to explore whether the current regulatory framework effectively meets the evolving needs of digital consumers.
Bruxelles
2 December 2025
Event summary
An initiative in partnership with The Watcher Post EU
As young people spend an increasing share of their daily lives navigating digital spaces, new challenges are emerging around safety, autonomy, and the responsibilities of those who shape online environments. Ensuring that minors can benefit from the opportunities of the digital world – while staying protected from harm – has become a central concern for policymakers, industry, and civil society alike.
Continuing our commitment to advancing consumer protection within the digital ecosystem, we convened a new CLAx roundtable in Brussels titled “Protection of Minors and Safety by Design: Building a Safer Digital World.” The session focused on how platforms, regulators, and technology providers can embed safety at the core of digital services, ensuring young users are protected without compromising their rights or their ability to participate online meaningfully.
Opening remarks were delivered by Marco Scialdone, Director of the Consumer Empowerment Project, who framed the discussion within Europe’s rapidly evolving policy landscape. We were honored to welcome keynote speakers Pablo Arias, MEP at the European Parliament, and Martin Harris Hess, Head of Sector for the Protection of Minors at the European Commission.
A dynamic roundtable followed, gathering perspectives from across sectors and moderated by the CEP team. Participants included Jürgen Bänsch (Video Games Europe), Giulio Cervi (Paramount), Laura Clays (Test Achats), Julie Dawson (Yoti), Simeon de Brouwer (EDRi), Stacey Featherstone (Meta), Beatrijs Gelders (COFACE Families Europe), Natasha Gerlach (CIPL), Emilio Puccio (Intergroup on Children’s Rights, European Parliament), and Milan Zubíček (Google).
Together, they explored how Europe can advance effective, privacy-respecting mechanisms for age assurance, strengthen enforcement under the DSA, and encourage safety-by-design practices across the industry. Key themes included the balance between protection and empowerment, the need for harmonized standards, and the importance of designing digital environments that prioritize children’s well-being and autonomy.
As the EU refines its policy agenda on online safety, this roundtable helped bridge the gap between regulation and implementation – highlighting the shared responsibility to ensure that digital innovation contributes to a safer, fairer online experience for all minors.
Roundtable
Snapshots
