The 5Rights Foundation have launched a new campaign called ‘Childhood Redrawn’, in partnership with the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA). Sign the petition calling for a digital world that respects and protects children’s rights.
The 5Rights Foundation have launched a new campaign called Childhood Redrawn, in partnership with the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA). Sign the petition calling for a digital world that respects and protects children’s rights.
Children are growing up at a time when social media platforms, games, apps and AI-powered services shape their daily lives. Nearly one in three internet users is a child and the average teenager across Europe spends seven hours on digital devices, even on school days. These technologies offer enormous opportunities, but too often they are designed to maximise engagement, collect data and influence behaviour rather than support children’s wellbeing and development.
The Childhood Redrawn campaign highlights a simple but urgent reality: childhood itself is being reshaped by technologies that were not designed with children in mind.
Through a series of powerful illustrations inspired by children’s drawings, the campaign draws attention to experiences that are all too common but which no child should have to deal with, from addictive design features and harmful content recommendations, to invasion of privacy and emotional dependence. This is not a bug, it is the business model. These features that have all been purposefully designed and deployed by tech companies who are prioritising growth and profit over children’s wellbeing.
The campaign reflects a growing recognition that protecting children online cannot be achieved through a parental controls, screen-time limits or digital literacy initiatives alone. While these measures have an important role to play, they cannot compensate for products and services that are intentionally designed to capture attention, encourage dependency or expose children to unnecessary risks.
With many European nations considering or preparing to implement social media bans, the campaign makes clear to policy makers that this is not a long-term solution and that their focus must be on changing the business model of tech companies that exploits and manipulates children.
Its key policy objectives include:
By supporting Childhood Redrawn, you join a growing coalition of organisations, advocates and individuals who believe that children should be able to explore, learn, create and connect online without their safety, wellbeing or rights being compromised by tech companies who are more interested in growth and profit.