The 2026 consultation phase for the EU Youth Dialogue has begun. The 12th Youth Dialogue, which facilitates the participation of young people in the European Union, focuses on European Youth Goal No. 4: Information and Constructive Dialogue. To this end, the perspectives of young people who can share their experiences in the digital world are sought. Topics include social media and artificial intelligence.

With regard to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union address, 144 organisations and supporters have published an open letter. In the letter, they call on the European Commission to hold digital service providers more accountable and to ensure that platforms are designed to be safe for children by default.

Following a year of intensive work, the work of the expert commission on ‘Child and Youth Protection in the Digital World’ culminated in a closing event on Friday, 11 September 2026. At this event, the two co-chairs of the expert commission, Nadine Schön and Prof. Olaf Köller, jointly presented the final report to Federal Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien.

For some time now, there has been discussion about using corresponding online age-assurance mechanisms to protect young people, including those significantly below the age of majority, from certain risks. How this could be achieved, and whether age assurance can provide a solution for child and youth protection on the internet, were discussed on 9 September at the Internet Governance Forum Germany (IGF-D) in the panel discussion “Tell Me Your Age First… Online Age Assurance Between the Protection and Participation Needs of All.”

The Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth has published the report “Together for a Better and Safer Internet” on child and youth participation for the Expert Commission in German language. The report documents the workshops held as part of the project “Child Protection and Children’s Rights in the Digital World”, which took place in spring 2026 with children and young people aged between 12 and 17, and brings together the suggestions, ideas and wishes of the young participants in 70 recommendations. These were presented to the expert commission on 7 May 2026.