On Tuesday morning, 7 December 2021, the 16th United Nations Internet Governance Forum was officially opened. The theme of this year's event is Internet United in the sense of an accessible and safe internet for all users.
In his video message, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pointed out the important role of the Internet in maintaining social life during the pandemic, but also the challenges posed by the digital divide with more than half of the world's population without access to the Internet. The President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, emphasised in his welcome message that digital transformation is a must for our well-being. At the same time, however, we would have to answer the questions of how digitisation is changing our lives, whether we fully trust the new technologies and how we can preserve human rights in a digital environment. Only joint concerted action can lead to a solution.
Already on Monday, several preliminary events dealt with questions of safety and security. In particular, they focused on a healthy upbringing of children and young people and the influence of digitisation on their personal development.
Today, the afternoon will be devoted to questions of regulation for the protection of children and the realisation of their rights according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We invite you to participate in the workshop 170 Child Protection Online - How to legislate? which will take place from 17.00 to 18.30 in conference room 6. The discussion can be followed live on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/igf/featured. registration is required for active participation in the discussion.