Yemi Osinbajo calls for tech company accountability in child digital safety

Former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has called on technology companies to take primary responsibility for protecting children from digital risks. Speaking at the 16th Annual Conference of the Pan African Lawyers Union in Cairo, Egypt, Osinbajo argued that it is unacceptable to design products with inherent dangers and then expect parents and children to manage the consequences.

During a session titled ‘Guardrails, Not Gates: Protecting Children in the Digital Age’, Osinbajo emphasized that the goal should not be to exclude children from technology, but to ensure digital spaces are built with their safety, dignity, and development in mind. He stated that digital environments should not have risks engineered into them, advocating for a combination of rights, accountability, and innovation to protect young users.