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9 – 11 May 2025, YOU^thDIG | 12 – 14 May 2025, EuroDIG
YOU^thDIG programme 2025 | About EuroDIG 2025

YOU^thDIG Messages 2025

Offline solutions to digital problems

Digital Literacy

Problem: Children are becoming increasingly susceptible to the dangers of the digital world, including harmful content, manipulative narratives and echo chambers. We believe that digital literacy is essential in equipping young people with the skills needed to critically engage with online information, protect themselves from these threats and gain positive digital experiences. Many people do not realise how algorithmic manipulation (particularly social media) can play a role in the creation of breedings grounds for polarization.
Solution: Education in digital literacy should provide individuals with vital skills for their digital future. This begins with comprehensive education in schools. They should empower students to identify disinformation, understand how digital platforms shape perceptions, and develop resilience against manipulation, with teachers being provided targeted training and resources to guide these discussions. This is where the private sector can contribute meaningfully through the development and support in training initiatives and community resources.

Other Stakeholders and considerations

Parents also play a crucial role in fostering informed and safe digital practices at home. As the primary influence in a child’s early development, they must not only monitor screen time, but foster open dialogue about online experiences and encourage offline socialization.
Public information and awareness campaigns can further promote vigilance across all age groups.Above all, digital literacy must remain politically neutral and rebuild public trust. At the moment widespread skepticism fueled by perceptions that scientists are biased or that politicians act out of self-interests can undermine the credibility of accurate information, there is a lack of trust which impedes adoption of education.
As online spaces for youth become increasingly controlled and restricted, offline solutions offer a crucial alternative by creating physical environments where young people can freely interact, organize, and express themselves. These offline spaces provide safe havens for youth to develop the skills and confidence needed to navigate digital spaces responsibly and advocate for their rights online. By fostering a strong offline community, we empower youth to reclaim agency in both the digital and physical worlds, ensuring their voices remain heard.

Content moderation from two perspectives

Algorithms and content moderation.

Problem now: One of the key problems that make young people so addicted to the digital space and online communities is the strength and specificity of the algorithm which can create polarisation.
To address this issue, users must actively engage with algorithms that were once hidden and secretive but have now become central to how we experience content. Instead of passively scrolling, users should be empowered to give feedback on what they want to see more or less of, taking control over the content they consume. Platforms should not only explain why specific content is being shown but also offer alternatives—different accounts, channels, or media—so users can actively seek out diverse perspectives and reshape their digital experience.

Free speech vs Content Moderation

Countries have a right to enforce their laws to protect their national sovereignty. Private companies controlling content online can undermine state authority and democratic oversight, giving governments unchecked power over the internet risks censorship which can lead to authoritarian control. The ultimate power over digital spaces should rest with the people—through transparent, democratic governance that protects both freedom and accountability.
We should have ways to enforce content moderation that align with the right of free speech. To make sure our digital ecosystem does not enlarge any political bias in content moderation such as flagging and shadowbanning, we should allow individuals to be able to be exposed to all sides or all information. Individuals should have personal control over the information they consume online.
Emphasize the importance of promoting user control tools on social media and platforms, such as allowing users to manage their own feeds and engage with democratic content moderation tools like lagging and community notes. This can lead to a positive political involvement and enhances awareness, making sure users take an active role in shaping their online experience. This requires raising awareness of what tools are already in place as well as expanding the application of them.

An intersectional approach for youth participation for a better Internet governance future

Representation:

The creation of spaces with co-management structures for youth to provide policy recommendations while monitoring the implementation of these actions.
Promoting a requirement for young people to have a ‘seat at the table’ by developing standards and recommendations to encourage the fostering of meaningful participation and inclusion in high level discussions.
Increasing the stream of additional stable funding and income for youth organizations (including youth councils), such as operational grants, thus, assessing and monitoring successful implementation.

Education:

Strengthen both non-formal and formal education via collaborative efforts amongst the relevant stakeholders such as young people; decision makers; experts; academia and many more by working towards and understanding how and why education needs tailored to specific groups through the following topics: youth participation, digital literacy (including how bias is present in the online sphere), inclusivity and accessibility, and finally, through critical thinking.
Recognise the current work of non-formal education agents on these topics for the creation of an organized European curriculum that can be implemented in formal education.
This educational program would follow the ‘youth for youth’ principle, where the young people would be, within the participatory model, included in all aspects of design and development processes, adopting an intersectional approach.

Inclusivity:

Inclusivity starts with language, and we should ensure that all policies and regulations are transparent and comprehensible to everyone, specifically the youth; limiting things like overuse of technical jargon. Policy briefs and documents need to have a youth-friendly version which can explain things transparently, including how these policies affect everyday life.
An intercultural aspect is also crucial for an inclusive environment, therefore LLMs should be trained in different (European) languages to reduce inequalities in access to information and knowledge. To ensure accuracy, this needs to have some level of human verification wherever possible. This could be achieved, for example, in partnership with local universities.
Apply standards that make online spheres more accessible, demanding all websites to have accessible features such as services for people with disabilities (visual and hearing impairments) to ensure that access to all content is equal.

For the successful development of the points above, it is crucial to have secured stable funding and adopt an intersectional approach to ensure no one is left behind.

Fair and Privacy Preserving Use of Data

Data Privacy shouldn’t be subject to one’s personal, social and economic status.

Meaning that: Information about data collection and data use must be presented to users transparently, in simple language and easy to understand.
A crackdown on dark patterns – outlawing dark patterns and empower consumer agencies to identify.
Creating a standard of having to opt in for sharing data without penalty or exclusion of the users.

In the long term, we demand to take the burden away from users in terms of privacy experience and shifting power back to them, allowing users to decide what information to be shared about themselves.

New Economics of Data

We acknowledge that Data is an asset, the product of users labour and it is used as a commodity to facilitate price discrimination. Therefore, we advocate for preventing companies from increasing prices of products and services based on users’ personal data shared without their consent

Age verification

We are seriously concerned about children's welfare, and we acknowledge that an effective technical solution to protect children online without infringing on privacy has yet to be discovered.

Entities who wish to improve children’s welfare online should not expand on privacy reducing technocentric solutions, but prioritize:

Strengthening law enforcement financially, educationally and structurally.
Shifting liability to providers of explicit and mature rated content.

About YOU^thDIG

The Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance (YOU^thDIG) is a yearly pre-event to the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) aimed to foster active youth participation. Young people (ages 18-30) from the pan-European region with a strong interest in Internet governance, digital policy and cooperation are working together to draft and advocate for the youth messages.

Every year the YOU^thDIG Organising Team is compiled of former YOU^thDIG participants who design the programme for the upcoming edition. This is a chance to reflect and improve the programme from last editions, build further connections with YOU^thDIG alumni and the EuroDIG community and to provide an opportunity for young people throughout Europe to participate in the Internet Governance Ecosystem focusing on topics that are important to youth in the field.

Find out more at our website.