Better Internet for Kids

Safer Internet Day 2026 will be observed with activities extending throughout the entire month of February. Against the backdrop of Africa’s unique digital realities and the lived experiences of African children online, a bold continental rallying call has emerged. Africa Safer Internet Day (ASID) 2026, aligned with the global celebration of Safer Internet Day on 10 February, offers a strategic and timely platform to transform Africa’s policy commitments on child online safety into tangible, coordinated action across the continent.

This rallying call is jointly led by Child Online Africa (COA), the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), and the International Telecommunication Union Regional Office for Africa (ITUROA), united by a shared vision to promote a safer, more inclusive, and empowering internet for Africa’s children. ASID 2026 is firmly anchored in the African Union Child Online Safety and Empowerment Policy, adopted in February 2024. Throughout the month-long observance, the initiative aims to widely disseminate the Policy’s ten goals, strengthen national legal and regulatory frameworks, and expand education and awareness efforts that protect children while enabling them to thrive online. Africa’s rapidly expanding digital ecosystem presents enormous opportunities for learning, creativity, innovation, and connection. However, it also exposes children to growing and complex risks, including harmful content, online abuse, sexual exploitation, cyberbullying, data and privacy violations, and emerging threats such as AI-driven harms. With young people representing a substantial share of new internet users and youth internet penetration estimated at around 40 per cent across the continent, the urgency for a coordinated, child rights-based response has never been greater.

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child guarantees children’s rights to dignity, privacy, and protection from sexual exploitation. These rights extend unequivocally into the digital environment. In this context, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) has provided critical guidance on State obligations through key normative instruments, including General Comment No. 1 on State Party Obligations, General Comment No. 7 on Article 27 (Sexual Exploitation), Agenda 2040: Africa’s Agenda for Children, the 2022 Resolution on the Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights in the Digital Environment, outcome statements from the 2022 Day of General Discussion, and the 2023 Day of the African Child, focusing on children’s rights in the digital space.

Complementing these efforts, the African Union has adopted a range of legal and policy instruments addressing children’s rights online. Central among them is the AU Child Online Safety and Empowerment Policy, which affirms children’s rights to safety, privacy, participation, and empowerment online, grounded in the principle of the child’s best interests and supported by concrete guidance for Member States.

The theme for ASID 2026, “Together for a Safer Africa Online: AU Online Safety Policy in Action,” echoes the global Safer Internet Day 2026 theme, “Together for a Better Internet.” Together, these themes underscore the power of collective action and position Africa Safer Internet Day 2026 as a catalyst for translating policy into practice through a whole-of-society approach to child online safety and empowerment.