Digital safety and minor protection initiatives advance in Italy

The CYBER project (Conscious Youth Behaviours in Emerging Realities), an Erasmus+ initiative, recently concluded its final transnational meeting in Palermo. The project focuses on transitioning cybersecurity from individual awareness to institutional responsibility within schools. It addresses digital safety through the lenses of cyberpsychology, online behavior, digital well-being, and data protection to help schools build safer environments.

Parallel to these educational efforts, a new study by the Istituto Italiano per la Privacy e la Valorizzazione dei Dati and the Centro Nazionale Anti-Cyberbullismo (CNAC) examines the evolution of digital consent for minors. Moving beyond the simple age of consent, the research highlights how modern social media architectures—driven by recommendation systems, continuous profiling, and persuasive notifications—impact minors. The paper provides a proposal for Italian legislators to address these technological shifts and the complexities of digital environments.