The internet has been a lifeline for children during the Covid pandemic. Children have told us how important being online is in supporting their rights to education, support, play, socialising with friends and in keeping in touch with family. But children tell us about the downsides too. The State has an essential role in ensuring children benefit from internet access, as well as protecting them online. 

All children have the right to access good quality and reliable information from a variety of places and in different ways.  Information should always be interrogated rather than just consumed and it’s important that we support children to consider all aspects of information online including any source and bias. Learning those tools of questioning and #fakenews spotting is integral to children’s growth and development within in the digital world, and it can also be a lot of fun.