Action Plan On Empowering Children In The Digital World Published

The "Action Plan on Empowering Children in the Digital World (2026–2030)" (the "Action Plan"), prepared under the coordination of the Ministry of Family and Social Services (the "Ministry"), has been published as a national policy framework to protect and empower children in digital environments. The Action Plan has been developed in line with the Presidential Circular No. 2026/2, dated 3 February 2026 (the "Circular"), which calls for a holistic approach to addressing the impacts of digital transformation on children, and serves as a strategic roadmap for translating the priorities set out in the Circular into concrete action.

The Action Plan aims to mitigate the multifaceted risks arising from digitalisation for children, ensure their safe access to digital opportunities, and establish a comprehensive set of policies and implementation tools to support children's engagement in digital environments as informed digital participants. In this context, the Action Plan envisages a multi-stakeholder governance model encompassing education, awareness-raising, technology design, intervention mechanisms, and legislative infrastructure.

To ensure compliance with the objectives set out in the Action Plan, responsibilities are assigned not only to the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, and the Personal Data Protection Authority, but also to social network providers and access providers

Strategic Architecture: Four Core Policy Pillars

The Action Plan is structured around four core strategic objectives and twelve strategic targets, designed to ensure children's safety in digital environments while supporting their ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by digitalisation. These pillars reflect a holistic approach that addresses both individual capacity-building and the strengthening of institutional and regulatory frameworks.

1. Awareness and Capacity Building

The first strategic objective focuses on raising children's awareness of the risks they may encounter in digital environments and promoting safe usage habits. In this context, the widespread delivery of education and awareness programmes is envisaged across areas such as digital literacy, cybersecurity, digital rights, online ethics, and artificial intelligence awareness.

This approach extends beyond children to encompass a broader capacity-building perspective involving parents, caregivers, educators, and professionals working with children. In particular, strengthening "digital parenting" skills and enhancing digital guidance capacities within the education system stand out among the Action Plan's key policy instruments.

2. Development of Protective and Preventive Mechanisms

The second strategic objective of the Action Plan focuses on structural measures aimed at preventing digital risks before they materialise. In this regard, the Action Plan seeks to promote child-friendly digital environments, strengthen protection mechanisms against harmful content, and expand the adoption of safe platform design practices.

The Action Plan also assigns responsibility to actors across the technology ecosystem, particularly social network providers and access providers, to ensure that design and service delivery processes incorporate child safety considerations. In parallel, supporting children's offline development areas, including the promotion of sports, cultural, and artistic activities, is positioned as a complementary component of the preventive policy framework.

3. Strengthening Intervention and Support Mechanisms Against Digital Risks

The third strategic objective aims to strengthen intervention and support capacities for children exposed to risks in digital environments. In this context, the development of school-based early detection systems and the expansion of guidance and psychosocial support services to cover digital risk dimensions are envisaged.

In addition, the Action Plan seeks to protect children from risks such as digital violence, cyberbullying, and online abuse, and to support their overall well-being through counselling helplines, referral mechanisms, and trauma-informed support programmes. Accordingly, intervention mechanisms are intended to be institutionalised not only from a technical perspective but also through their psychosocial dimensions.

4. Strengthening Legal and Institutional Frameworks

The fourth strategic objective of the Action Plan focuses on strengthening the legislative framework and institutional capacity aimed at safeguarding children's rights in the digital world. In this regard, the development of regulations aligned with technological advancements and grounded in a child rights-based and risk-oriented approach stands among the Action Plan's core priorities.

Strengthening institutional coordination mechanisms, enhancing supervisory capacity, and integrating data, monitoring, and implementation processes across relevant public authorities also constitute complementary components of this strategic pillar.

In order to achieve this objective, legislative updates will be introduced under Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed through Such Publications, taking into account international regulations, with respect to social network providers and digital game providers/distributors.

The Action Plan adopts a multi-layered approach to children's presence in the digital world, introducing a broad policy agenda spanning from digital literacy and platform responsibility to psychosocial support and legislative infrastructure. In this context, compliance considerations relating to child safety, content design, and data protection are expected to gain increased prominence in the near term for technology companies, social network providers, digital gaming platforms, and content service providers.

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