Global Kids Online

Global Kids Online is an international research project that aims to generate and sustain a rigorous cross-national evidence base around children’s use of the internet by creating a global network of researchers and experts.

The project developed a global research toolkit that would enable academics, governments, civil society and other actors to carry out reliable and standardised national research with children and their parents on the opportunities, risks and protective factors of children’s internet use.

Why do we need Global Kids Online?

Across truly diverse domestic, cultural and geographic contexts, many children now use digital and online technologies as part of their everyday lives. To guide national and international policy and practice in the best interests of children, a robust evidence base is needed.

In high- and middle-income countries, and increasingly also in low-income countries, many children’s activities are underpinned by internet and mobile phone access in one way or another. What are the resulting risks and opportunities for children’s well-being and their rights in a digital age?

Global Kids Online asks:

• When and how is internet and mobile use problematic in children’s lives – amplifying a range of risks of harm that undermine their well-being and infringe their rights if they are not protected?

• When and how does internet and mobile use benefit children’s lives – providing opportunities to learn, communicate and participate in ways that enhance their well-being and rights?

At present, there are considerable evidence gaps, due substantially to research challenges regarding inclusion, ethics, data quality, cross-national comparability, contextual sensitivity and more. To meet this need, Global Kids Online has developed an open-access multi-method research toolkit in collaboration with country partners, experts and international advisors.

Addressing the evidence gaps

There are many challenges that researchers face when studying children’s online risks and opportunities. This is how some of the Global Kids Online projects are working on reducing the evidence gaps across diverse contexts.

Global Kids Online was developed as a collaborative initiative between the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and the EU Kids Online network. Supported by the WeProtect Global Alliance (2015 – 2016), the project aims to connect evidence with the ongoing international dialogue regarding policy and practical solutions for children’s well-being and rights in the digital age, especially in the global South.

With principal investigators Professor Sonia Livingstone (LSE) and Jasmina Byrne (UNICEF Office of Research), the project developed a global research toolkit that was piloted by national research partners from Argentina, the Philippines, Serbia and South Africa, supported by UNICEF country offices. These partners were instrumental in building and testing research resources and in demonstrating how research results can be used for policy and practice.

Research results are currently available from Argentina, Montenegro, Serbia, South Africa, and the Philippines. Further countries are applying to join the Global Kids Online project, and their results will be published as they emerge.

Find out more about the Global Kids Online research model in Method guide 1: research framework and about the comparative findings in the Research synthesis.