According to a report children and young people lack the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the risks of the internet or to benefit from its opportunities.
The firm conducting the report, Civil Society iRights, seeks to make the digital world a more transparent and empowering place or youngsters.
The initiative by iRights aims to encourage all companies and organisations with a digital footprint to enshrine a universal standard of rights into their digital services and communications in order to help protect and inform young people online.
Joanna Shields, minister for internet safety and security, said the iRights report provides a “unique insight” into how government can join with technology companies to make a better digital world for young people.
She said: “We are using the iRights framework in education, business, and in our own services and digital communications.”
The report is based on a year of research by the group and is titled ‘Enabling children and young people to access the digital world creatively, knowledgeably and fearlessly’.
The research revealed children and young people in the UK feel that online games and social networks are compulsive and are becoming increasingly concerned that websites and apps which claim to delete their data have loopholes. Research also found that children believe helplines and informed support should be available to them online.
The children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, announced she is launching a taskforce in response to the report dedicated entirely to improving the lives of young people through the iRights framework.