Safeguarding rewired: Changing systems, evolving risks, and a new institutional response in an AI context
Written By: Author(s): Laura Knight
9 min read
LAURA KNIGHT, MED PGCE FCCT FRSA CMG FOUNDER AND CEO, SAPIO LTD, UK
Children in the 2020s are growing up in environments shaped by algorithmic systems that influence what they see, how they connect, and how they feel. These are not merely social media platforms, but AI-driven ecosystems designed to recommend, generate, and adapt content, often without the user's awareness. Developers of platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram prioritise engagement over care in design.
In these contexts, social media and AI (artificial intelligence) are not separate entities. The most widely used social platforms in children’s lives are powered by AI-powered adaptive algorithms and intelligent systems that operate beneath the surface. Legacy approaches to safeguarding including traditional models of filtering, monitoring, and teaching digital citizenship cannot address the cumulative, personalised, and often hidden ways harm may now manifest. Meeting this challenge calls for an e
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