From 7 to 12 March, the multistakeholder community will meet in Mumbai, India, for the ICANN 85 Community Forum to discuss current issues and developments related to the security and advancement of the Internet. Among other things, the focus will be on the (continued) work on universal acceptance, the development and implementation of a human rights impact assessment (HRIA) within ICANN structures, and the use of the domain name system. Many bodies will also discuss further preparations for the new generic top-level domain (gTLD) program. An overview of the main topics of the event can be found here.

Today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosted the first meeting of the Special Panel on child safety online. The panel, announced in the 2025 State of the Union address, will provide expert recommendations to better protect and empower children online and will explore the need for potential harmonised age restrictions to access social media.

On the fifth anniversary of the adoption of General Comment No. 25 on children's rights in the digital environment, 53 organisations and signatories remind the States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to realise children's rights on the internet and in digital services.

On Safer Internet Day 2026, the European Commission presented an action plan against cyberbullying to protect young people online. It is based on three pillars to protecting the mental health of children and young people online. Under this plan, the European Commission is committed to making more targeted use of existing programs and instruments to combat cyberbullying and invites all member states of the European Union to develop national action plans to support the cause jointly and equally, as well as to improve the data and knowledge base on the phenomenon.

Political intention to introduce age restrictions on social media is intensifying across Europe. Several European Union member states are advancing national initiatives, reflecting growing concerns about the impact of social media on minors. France, Denmark, Greece and Spain are among the countries that have announced or introduced measures to restrict social media use by under-18s. - At the European supranational level, the debate is also gaining momentum. The European Union has set up a panel of child protection experts to advise on possible EU-wide age restrictions, with recommendations expected by the end of the summer.