The wonderful adventures of childhood in the digital era: towards the realisation of the right of the child to participate in cultural and artistic life

Digital technologies pose a significant challenge to the protection of human rights, particularly for individuals in vulnerable situations. Children are growing up in these digital spaces and represent one in three internet users. Like all human rights, the right to participate in cultural life is essential for the dignity, well-being, and development of the child, as recognised by Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This right implies being able to develop one's own cultural identity, engage freely in cultural practices, as well as having access to one's own culture and those of others. The right to participate in cultural life, which has long been forgotten in the analogue environment, is strongly at risk of being forgotten again in relation to the digital environment. Through the analysis of the components of this right of the child, this paper examines the architecture of digital platforms widely used by children and their impacts, both positive and negative, on this right. It also considers the need for an appropriate balance between the recognition of their vulnerability, which calls for special protection of their rights, and the recognition of their agency, as well as the interrelatedness of those notions.