A Generation Shaping the Digital Future
In the vast and ever-growing digital landscape of the Asia-Pacific region, youth are no longer passive observers; they’re becoming architects. From creating grassroots campaigns that promote digital literacy in rural schools to founding start-ups that develop AI tools for accessibility or online safety, young innovators across the region are shaping how communities connect and interact online. In Indonesia, for instance, youth-led platforms like #Siberkreasi has mobilized thousands of young creators to counter misinformation through digital storytelling. At the same time in the Philippines, young people are organising data-privacy and online-safety initiatives, for example the Kabataang Digital campaign by the National Privacy Commission which engages youth in digital citizenship and privacy education. With over 40% of internet users in Asia-Pacific under the age of 25, their presence online is immense, dynamic, and deeply influential.
As access to the internet expands, so too do serious challenges: misinformation, exploitation, and unsafe online spaces. During the COVID-19 pandemic, health myths and political disinformation spread rapidly on social media in countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Myanmar. At the same time, research by ECPAT International and UNICEF East Asia and Pacific shows that children in Southeast Asia face among the world’s highest exposure to grooming, sextortion, and image-based abuse.
Yet amid these risks, an inspiring shift is taking place: young people across Asia-Pacific are rising to the challenge creating digital safety campaigns, leading peer-education programs, influencing policy, and even shaping how the internet is governed. This article explores how Asia-Pacific youth are moving from users to shapers, transforming the digital world from within.
Youth-Led Action: Protecting the Digital Generation
Across South and Southeast Asia, young people are taking the lead in making the internet safer for their peers. In Chennai, India, youth participating in the Step Up the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation of Children (SUFASEC) program i.e. run by the Down to Zero Alliance which has organized street plays, peer-education sessions, and digital awareness campaigns to help others recognize online grooming and sextortion.
In Bangladesh, the child rights organization Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) works with children, youth, and local communities to strengthen reporting mechanisms, build digital literacy, and lead social campaigns on online safety and exploitation prevention. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, a UNICEF-supported initiative trained young volunteers like 15-year-old Shahzeb to educate classmates and parents about privacy, cyberbullying, and the risks of sextortion or live-streamed abuse.
Region-wide, serious data backs up the urgency: a 2023 Disrupting Harm study found that 79% of children aged 8–18 in Southeast Asia had encountered at least one form of cyber risk in the post-pandemic era. Against this backdrop, youth-led initiatives like SUFASEC are helping children challenge harmful norms, build protective environments, and hold duty bearers accountable for creating a safer digital world.
Creativity and leadership are at the heart of these efforts. Young people are not just learners, they are trainers, storytellers, and designers of games, comics, videos, and peer-education materials promoting digital safety. The SUFASEC project’s “Brave Voice of Juliet” campaign, co-created with children by the Child Rights Coalition Asia, ensured youth voices were central in raising awareness and fostering prevention.
Youth are also developing child- and youth-friendly reporting systems that link young people with parents, teachers, and community actors to build trusted channels for addressing online exploitation. In the Philippines, the SaferKidsPH program i.e. led by UNICEF, the Australian Government, and local youth organizations has supported the creation of reporting and referral mechanisms for online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA). Similarly, in Thailand and Cambodia, youth advocates engaged through the Disrupting Harm initiative have collaborated with schools and local authorities to strengthen community-based response systems.
Through behavior-change campaigns such as Brave Voice of Juliet, young people across Asia-Pacific are challenging the stigma that silences victims or normalizes online abuse, fostering a culture of openness, accountability, and protection. The digital generation is not merely vulnerable; they are resilient, proactive agents of change, leading efforts toward a safer and more inclusive internet across the region.
From Participants to Co-Governors
While grassroots protection matters, the next frontier is policy, governance and strategic influence. Youth are no longer only participating, they are stepping into governance spaces, shaping how the internet is ruled, regulated and stewarded across the Asia-Pacific.
Programs such as the Asia Pacific Youth Internet Governance Forum (yIGF) have long provided youth with a space to engage in internet governance dialogue. Initiated by NetMission.Asia in 2010, yIGF brings together young leaders aged 18-35 for discussion, networking and action.
More recently, the forum has set out a three-year blueprint (2025-27) focused on moving youth from hearing to leading and then to becoming co-governors in internet policy.
At the same time, the Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy (APIGA), co-hosted by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and other partners, is equipping youth with the skills to understand multistakeholder models, global internet governance issues, policy making and advocacy.
These programs are opening meaningful pathways for youth to engage in internet governance, yet several barriers persist. Tokenism remains a major issue, where young people are invited to speak but are not genuinely heard or integrated into decision-making processes. Limited access due to language barriers, travel costs, or inadequate digital connectivity also prevents many from participating fully. Moreover, insufficient capacity-building continues to hinder progress; knowing the issues is not enough without opportunities to develop skills, networks, mentorship, and confidence.
However, change is taking shape. During the WSIS+20 Review process in 2025, youth leaders from NetMission.Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific community called for stronger, youth-inclusive action in global digital governance. Their joint statement urged stakeholders to move beyond symbolic inclusion and establish meaningful youth participation mechanisms ensuring that young people are not only present, but shaping the policy agenda. This collective effort exemplifies how APAC youth are shifting from being “participants” to becoming recognized partners in shaping an inclusive, sustainable digital future.
To address these gaps, youth networks and alumni communities such as NetMission.Asia, Asia Pacific Youth Internet Governance Forum (APyIGF), and Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy (APIGA) are taking proactive steps. They are advocating for policy inclusion and contributing to child online protection frameworks. For instance, the Asia Pacific Policy Observatory (APPO) , a youth-led research initiative by NetMission produced a youth-driven analysis on artificial intelligence and digital governance, amplifying regional youth perspectives in global policy conversations. These young leaders are also leading research and dialogue on issues such as AI ethics, online exploitation, and data governance, effectively bridging the gap between grassroots realities and governance frameworks. Additionally, they are building regional platforms that connect youth voices with policymakers, technology experts, and international organizations. This growing movement signals a shift from mere participation to co-governance, where youth are not just consulted but are actively shaping the norms, structures, and future governance of the internet itself.
Conclusion: Redefining Digital Futures
As the internet becomes ever more central to how we live, learn, connect and innovate, the role of youth in shaping its trajectory cannot be overstated. In Asia-Pacific, the transformation is visible: from young people protecting their peers against online exploitation, to youth shaping AI ethics and data policies, to youth stepping into governance roles to be co-architects of digital futures.
The message is clear: A safer, more trustworthy and inclusive internet begins when young people are not only heard but empowered to lead.
And for us whether as researchers, policy-makers, educators, content creators or simply citizens of the digital world there is a role to play: to support youth leadership, build the systems they need, listen with respect, and partner in their journey.
Because the next generation of Internet users will be more than users, they will be governors, inventors, protectors, storytellers of the digital world.
Written by Nawal Munir (Reviewed by Jenna Fung)