On May 5, 2025, the Human Rights Center (BİHM) organized a workshop titled “Children in the Digital World: Legal Issues and Solutions” at the İhsan and Ayser Doğramacı Science, Culture and Arts Center. The event brought together approximately 50 experts from diverse professional backgrounds.
The opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Gülsev Kale, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees; Prof. Kürşat Aydoğan, Rector; and Prof. Başak Baysal, Dean of the Faculty of Law. The keynote address on “Children and the Digital World” was presented by Prof. Ferhunde Öktem, a leading scholar in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. She discussed the psychological effects of digitalization on children and shared recent scientific findings in the field. This was followed by a keynote speech by Prof. Engin Yıldırım, a Justice of the Turkish Constitutional Court, on “The TCC’s Perspective on Children’s Rights in Its Judgments.” His presentation offered an in-depth analysis of the Court’s jurisprudence concerning children’s rights in individual applications and constitutional review decisions.
The workshop welcomed a wide range of participants, including academics, medical professionals, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, social workers, school counsellors and principals, as well as representatives from relevant public institutions and civil society organizations.
Moderated by Asst. Prof. Ayşe Dicle Ergin, Director of BİHM and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Law, the workshop aimed to address the legal challenges stemming from children’s growing interaction with digital technologies, adopting a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach.
Participants engaged in thematic working groups to explore current issues children face in the digital world. These sessions assessed the legal dimensions of the topic, the adequacy of the current legal framework and implementation challenges, using concrete case scenarios developed for specific focus areas. Among the facilitators were Asst. Prof. Elvin Evrim Dalkılıç and Asst. Prof. Zülfiye Yılmaz from Bilkent University Faculty of Law.
The workshop findings will be compiled into a report and published on the BİHM website as well as with the relevant institutions.