Dr. Karen McAuley:

It plays an important role in their lives in the context of their engagement with each other and their learning and interactions. Looking through the lens of children's rights, any number of children's rights are engaged in this domain and it is important to take a balanced approach to it.

Given the day that is in it, it would be appropriate to mention that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is working on the development of a new general comment on the whole question of children's rights in a digital environment. It is expected this will be ready towards the end of next year or early 2021. It is some time away. The committee is engaging directly with children and young people from throughout the world to hear their views. It is an area on which our office will continue to work. We must figure out not only what is an appropriate role but also what is an effective role that our office can play in this area. It is not enough for us to express concern. We have to figure out what we can do. Something we all need to think about is how we engage directly with children and young people on this issue to make sure we get their perspectives and ideas. They are very good at coming up with very practical solutions to certain issues.