Doctors, Lawyers, and Scientists Join Together in International Children's Declaration for the Digital Age

Three Fundamental Rights of Children Are Affirmed Regarding Digital Technology

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- An international group of leading lawyers, physicians, physicists, epidemiologists and other children's health experts have today announced their support for a new International Declaration intended to raise public awareness of three fundamental rights of children which are not adequately being protected: the right to be free from addictive platforms and apps; the right to be free from hazardous radiation from wireless devices; and the right to be free from commercial exploitation of private information.

The "International Declaration on the Human Rights of Children in the Digital Age," builds on the 1959 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child and encourage decision makers at all levels of government and education to take immediate steps to safeguard children from potential harm. The Declaration is being promoted by two non-profit organizations, the Broadband International Legal Action Network of California (BBILAN), and Americans for Responsible Technology based in New York.

"The existence of the legal rights of children is well recognized, but not adequately or uniformly enforced, especially when those rights conflict with powerful commercial interests," says Julian Gresser, Chairman of BBILAN and one of the Declaration's authors. "The legal duty to protect children and enforce these rights on their behalf is the obligation of all adults, particularly parents, legal guardians and others in positions of authority. This protection of children is a basic legal principle that we believe will increasingly be recognized as a part of international customary law that can be recognized and implemented by every country on Earth."

"We're using a wide aperture to approach this issue," says Doug Wood, National Director of Americans for Responsible Technology. "Parents and school officials are recognizing the hazards of digital addiction, privacy experts are concerned about the monetization of children's private data, and medical doctors and epidemiologists are worried about the long- and short-term biological impacts of radiation. This Declaration offers a holistic solution to all three of these problems."

Legal, health and scientific experts and organizations, as well as other child advocates around the world, are invited to become signatories to the Declaration, which will be presented to the United Nations on World Children's Day, November 20th.

More info:

www.americansforresponsibletech.org
www.bbilan.org
www.thechildrensdeclaration.org

SOURCE Americans for Responsible Technology