Deputies Pass Reform to Combat Digital Violence against Minors

With 430 votes in favor, Mexico's Chamber of Deputies has approved reforms and additions to support the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents. This measure, focused on the supervision and protection of minors against digital violence, seeks to safeguard their integrity and well-being in the digital landscape.

The proposed reform concerns Article 76 of the Law in question, now transferred to the senate, aims to establish mechanisms to prevent and combat cyberbullying, as well as to protect minors from content harmful to their healthy development. In this sense, it reaffirms the right of children and adolescents to privacy and the protection of their personal data, prohibiting any arbitrary or illegal interference in their private life.

One of the most important provisions of this reform is the obligation imposed on parents, guardians or those exercising parental authority to guide, supervise, and, where appropriate, restrict the behavior and habits of minors in the use of digital media. This measure, which is framed in the best interest of children, seeks to ensure a safe digital environment that does not undermine the integral development of children and adolescents.

Congresswoman Paulina Rubio Fernández, expressing the favorable position of the National Action Party (PAN), highlighted the importance of this reform as a crucial measure to protect children at a time when social networks are an integral part of everyday life.

For her part, legislator Iliana Guadalupe Rodríguez, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), party which originally presented the initiative, expressed concern regarding the increased use of internet among children, citing data from the National Survey on the Availability and Use of Information Technology in Homes (ENDUTIH), carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in collaboration with the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).

According to this survey, in 2022, 93.1 million people in Mexico were internet users, representing approximately 78.6% of the population aged six and over. Among this demographic, 73.1% of minors between the ages of six and eleven, and 92.5% of adolescents, were reported to be using the Internet, with an average daily surfing time of 4.7 hours.

If passed by the Senate, this reform will mark a significant milestone in the protection of children in the digital environment in Mexico. By establishing concrete measures to prevent digital violence against minors, it strengthens the country's legal framework for the protection of children's rights in an increasingly digitalized economy.