The 10th of February 2026 marks Safer Internet Day. This year’s theme, “Smart tech, safe choices: exploring the safe and responsible use of AI” could not be more relevant for children growing up online today. In South Africa, where more than 95 % of children regularly use the internet, digital spaces are now as central to childhood as classrooms, homes and playgrounds. That transformation has created opportunities, but it has also stressed rights that our Constitution already guarantees.
South Africa’s Constitution enshrines every child’s right to dignity, safety, privacy, education, family care, and protection from exploitation. These rights don’t switch off when a child goes online. But the digital world and especially rapidly evolving artificial intelligence exposes where those rights are under pressure and too often, neglected.
Many South African children are exposed to online risks. A recent survey found that 43 % of children have seen violent content online and 12% of parents reported unknown adults trying to befriend their children digitally. Another South African study showed 67% of kids exposed to sexual images online were first exposed through online devices, with 70% of children using the internet without parental consent.
A child’s right to dignity and protection from harm speaks directly to online bullying, harassment and exposure to violent or sexual content. What makes digital harm different is scale and permanence. A single post, image or video can be copied, shared and resurfaced for years. What once stayed in the schoolyard can now become permanent and public.
The right to privacy has taken on new meaning in an age of data-driven platforms and artificial intelligence. Children’s data is constantly collected, analysed and used to shape what they see online from adverts and videos to recommendations and search results. Most children and many adults do not fully understand how these systems work. When platforms collect more data than a child can reasonably understand or when algorithms quietly influence behaviour and choices, privacy becomes less about secrecy and more about power.
Artificial intelligence also introduces new and serious safety risks. Reports by the 5Rights Foundation have highlighted how generative AI tools, including X’s Grok model, have been capable of producing child sexual abuse material where adequate safeguards are not built into system design This is not a failure of users, but of design choices that place speed and scale ahead of children’s safety. Globally, reports of AI-generated abuse content have surged dramatically in recent years, underscoring how quickly these technologies can outpace regulation and detection.
A child’s right to education now includes digital literacy and safe access to technology. In South Africa, this intersects with deep inequality. Many children rely on mobile phones with expensive data bundles to access learning resources, while schools struggle with connectivity and safe learning environments. If children lack digital literacy and insight into how algorithms and AI shape the content they encounter, technology may end up reinforcing, rather than reducing, existing inequalities.
Family care and guidance also take on a different shape in the digital world. Parents and caregivers are increasingly expected to guide children through platforms that are complex, fast-changing and often intentionally difficult to understand. Over 4 million children live with their grandmothers who may most likely be digitally literate. This responsibility cannot rest on families alone. Platforms must do more by offering clear safety settings, plain-language explanations and tools that genuinely support caregivers, rather than burying critical choices in confusing menus and dense terms of service.
Moreso, protection from exploitation now extends into the online economy. Children are increasingly drawn into influencer culture, paid content and digital platforms that profit from their attention, images and creative output. When AI systems are used to promote, rank or monetise this content, the risks intensify. Without clear safeguards, these environments can slide into a new form of exploitation, presented as opportunity. Even rights that appear far removed from the internet are affected. Automated systems can wrongly flag accounts, misjudge a child’s age or block access to platforms used for education or social connection. These decisions are made at scale, often without explanation or a meaningful right of appeal. For children, the result can be exclusion, silencing, and the loss of valuable opportunities.
Finally, children have the right to be heard and to participate in matters that affect them. If digital platforms and AI systems are central to children’s social lives, learning and self-expression, then children must have a meaningful voice in how those spaces are designed and governed. Being heard online is not just about posting content. It is about having a say in the rules, systems, and protections that shape everyday digital experiences.
On Safer Internet Day 2026, the message for South Africa is clear: our Constitution requires that children’s rights extend into the digital world. But rights on paper are not enough. We must act. Government, regulators and lawmakers must accelerate policies that protect children’s safety online, including robust standards for AI design, enforcement of age-appropriate safeguards and transparent moderation systems. Platforms must build safety into the core of their products not as an afterthought. Educators and caregivers need support, training and resources to guide children’s digital experiences effectively. Most importantly, children themselves must be listened to and empowered to shape the digital spaces they inhabit.
A safer internet is not simply about technology. It is about ensuring that children’s rights travel with them wherever they go - including into the digital world. That demands urgency, clarity and collective commitment.
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