The report reflects the outcomes of a stakeholders' conference held on 28 March 2026 in Johannesburg under the leadership of Commissioner Nomahlubi Khwinana, which brought together government departments, UN agencies, industry regulators, technology companies, civil society organisations, and critically, children themselves, through the SAHRC's Child Rights Ambassadors (CRA) programme. The conference stems from online human rights challenges faced by children such cyberbullying, harmful content, exploitation, data misuse, and violations of their human rights and in particular right to privacy.

Findings
The Commission found that children are participating in the digital environment that was not designed with their best interests in mind. Children’s personal data is routinely collected without meaningful, informed consent, despite the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Reporting mechanisms for online harm remain largely inaccessible or inadequate for children. Parents and caregivers often lack the digital literacy needed to guide children safely. Existing legal frameworks, including POPIA and the Cybercrimes Act, do not address platform design choices such as addictive algorithmic feeds, default data-sharing settings, or age verification at sign-up. Technology companies profit from children’s engagement on their platforms while bearing insufficient accountability for resulting harms. No South African law currently requires age verification at the point of SIM card registration or app download, undermining every downstream child-specific protection that depends on a platform first knowing it is dealing with a minor.

Recommendations
The Commission is calling on Parliament and relevant departments to amend sections 34 and 35 of POPIA to ensure children’s data is processed only with plain-language, meaningfully informed consent. Extend POPIA’s mandate to address passive data collection, harmful platform design, and cross-border enforcement. Amend the Children's Act to address the abusive posting of children’s images and information by parents and caregivers. Amend the Films and Publications Amendment Act to cover algorithmically served content, livestreams, and AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and to introduce mandatory age verification and child-friendly reporting tools.

Amend the Cybercrimes Act to address addictive algorithmic design and the commercial exploitation of children’s data for targeted advertising. Amend the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act to require age verification for SIM registration, with parental involvement for minors. Empower the Information Regulator and the Films and Publications Board to proactively assess platform safety by design, rather than relying solely on complaints-based enforcement. Grant regulators powers to conduct extraterritorial investigations, given that most major platforms are incorporated outside South Africa.

Central to the report is The Children's Declaration, adopted by child participants at the conference. The Declaration affirms children's rights under the Constitution, the Children's Act, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, the declaration sets out a direct call to action to government, technology companies, schools, parents, and civil society.

The SAHRC will engage the relevant Parliamentary portfolio committees and government departments on these recommendations. The Commission will also continue to support the Child Rights Ambassadors programme and the child-led movement for online safety launched through the Declaration.

The full report can be accessed here

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION