From algorithmic feeds to engagement-based features, the design of digital services plays a critical role in shaping how minors engage with the online world. Under the EU Digital Services Act, the upcoming Guidelines on the Protection of Minors put privacy-, safety-, and security-by-design and age-appropriate design principles at the heart of efforts to foster healthier digital experiences for minors online.

This Brussels to the Bay conversation, organised by the European Union Office in San Francisco in collaboration with Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland's DSA Digital Services Coordinator), will bring together voices from policy, tech, research, and child advocacy to explore how interface design, recommender systems, algorithms and default settings can be developed and deployed to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security of minors online.

The discussion will explore the wide range of risks young users face online — from exposure to illegal content, to unwanted contact, persuasive design and exploitative practices — and how new technologies and societal developments may be amplifying these challenges. At the same time, it will spotlight ways to support minors’ agency, autonomy, and healthy engagement through thoughtful, developmentally aligned design that prioritizes accuracy, diversity, inclusivity and fairness.

Whether you're coming from Brussels, the Bay, or somewhere in between, this panel offers a forward-looking conversation on what it means to build digital services that don’t just protect minors, but respect and empower them.
     

Speakers:

Gerard de Graaf
Senior EU Envoy to the US for Digital and Head of the San Francisco Office

Niamh Hodnett
Online Safety Commissioner at Coimisiún na Meán, DSA Irish Digital Service Coordinator

Ravi Iyer
Managing Director for the USC Marshall School’s Neely Center and the Psychology of Technology Institute

Robbie Torney
Senior Director of AI programs at Common Sense Media

Giulia Geneletti

Policy Officer at European Commission/EU Office in San Francisco