Are We Failing to Secure Children’s Safe Digital Futures?

Carol Mweemba brings clarity to the roundtable discussions on financing safe digital futures, dissecting the arguments with a critical eye and revealing not only the urgent need to fund child online safety, but also the widening gaps that leave children exposed to escalating digital harm.

8 December 2025.

During the High-level Roundtable on Financing Safe Digital Futures for Children, held alongside the G20 Social Summit in South Africa, participants exchanged candid reflections on the financial realities shaping children’s online protection. As the conversation unfolded, a sobering truth became evident: meaningful progress will require deliberate, sustained investment, clearer accountability, and a willingness from all stakeholders to move beyond statements of intent towards action that genuinely safeguards children in an increasingly complex digital world.

When Digital Promise Becomes Risk

AI-driven exploitation is no longer hypothetical it is happening now. Thorn’s 2024 report found that one in three boys aged 9–12 experienced online sexual interactions, while the 2023 ParentsTogether Survey suggests the same proportion of children will face unwelcome sexual experiences online before turning 18. Meanwhile, child sexual abuse images surged from 10.2 million in 2017 to 29.3 million in 2021. Rarely has a set of statistics been so devastatingly clear: children are at risk, and the global response is lagging.

Although digital transformation offers remarkable opportunities for learning and connection, it exposes children to dangers we are ill-prepared to manage. The global cost of inaction is estimated at $7 trillion annually 8% of global GDP. One might contend that ignoring this reality is a luxury the world can no longer afford.

Progress Exists, But Not Enough

Across Africa, there is movement. Kenya has developed a robust policy framework along with Guidelines for Child Online Protection and Safety. Zambia has a costed Child Online Protection Strategy and is investing in social service workforce capacity. Uganda is innovating with web-based reporting platforms, mobile psychosocial support apps, and integrated child helplines.

Yet intent does not automatically translate into impact. Zambia struggles with fragmented budgets and weak enforcement, Kenya faces sustainability challenges for forensic capacity and survivor support, and Uganda’s programmes risk stagnation amid declining donor support. Globally, consistent investment in media literacy and child safety remains scarce, and child protection rarely features in national budgets. One might contend that this disconnect between policy ambition and financial reality is at the heart of the problem.

Where Investments Will Count

Three priorities demand urgent attention: expanding digital infrastructure and connectivity, scaling child online safety programmes, and strengthening the social service workforce. This entails ensuring zero-rated internet and child helplines for rural communities, deploying AI-driven tools to detect abuse, supporting survivors, enhancing digital literacy, and embedding case management systems for coordinated response. Aligning these priorities with broader agendas digital transformation, education, health magnifies the potential impact.

Innovative financing models blended finance, CSR allocations, pooled funds offer a pathway to scale these interventions. Although persuasive, the notion that governments alone can solve this problem overlooks the critical role of tech companies and donors. Governments must embed child online safety into national budgets, technology companies must dedicate funding, and donors must prioritise this agenda within broader digital strategies. The cost of inaction is too high, and the window to act is closing rapidly.

Voices That Cannot Be Ignored

Perhaps the most compelling testimony comes not from reports or data, but from the voices of children and survivors themselves. Their lived experiences illuminate the urgency with a clarity that statistics alone cannot convey. With all stakeholders, government officials, technology companies, donors, civil society, children, and survivors calling for prioritisation, there is reason for cautious optimism. But hope alone will not protect children; decisive, coordinated investment will.

The time to finance safe digital futures for children is now. Governments, donors, and technology companies must act decisively to close financing gaps, scale protective programmes, and safeguard a generation at risk. The cost of delay is far too great, the stakes far too high.

Carol Emma Mweemba is Policy Advisor for National Investments in Children at World Vision International. With seven years of experience advocating for the protection and rights of vulnerable children, she offers insight grounded in frontline knowledge and policy expertise.