Lithuanian President prioritizes online child safety

President Gitanas Nausėda met with government members to discuss enhancing child safety in the digital space. He characterized the issue as a strategic concern for Lithuania's future rather than just a social or emotional problem, citing threats such as cyberbullying, exploitation, manipulation, harmful information, and addictive social media algorithms.

The discussion included reviewing the implementation of mobile phone restrictions in schools and exploring how Lithuania can contribute technological solutions for age-verification processes to the European Commission. The President urged government leaders to prioritize child protection in the digital world during Lithuania's upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė noted that greater responsibility for child safety on social networks should fall on internet platforms, expressing support for European-wide age limits for social media use.