Nordic and EU expert meeting on digital media and health among children and adolescents

Photo: Johnér Bildbyrå

Several of the Nordic countries have launched recommendations for digital media/screen use among children. Simultaneously the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) has come into effect, but has it had the intended impact? At the expert meeting perspectives such as legislation, how to present and implement recommendations aimed at the public and the liability of tech companies will be discussed.

Programme

The meeting with panel debates and presentations by scientists, policymakers and professionals is moderated by Parisa Amiri. Several pressing issues will be clarified and debated:

• Opening remarks by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
• Welcome note by representatives from the Ministries of Sweden and Finland. Poland´s representative on experiences during the polish presidency and questions that need to be further addressed.
• Health effects of digital media among children and adolescents. Presented by Helena Frielingsdorf, The Public Health Agency of Sweden.
• What do adolescents themselves think? Filmed interview with Swedish adolescents.
• Commercial Determinants of Health: cross-industry strategies applicable to digital media. Presented by Mark Petticrew, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
• A Nordic model? Similarities and differences in screen use recommendations, Sara Fritzell, Senior Analyst, The Public Health Agency of Sweden
• Experiences from developing screen use recommendations in the Nordic countries
  • Pitch presentations from Jens Kristoffersen, Danish Health Authority, Päivi Lindberg, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Jenny Ingudottir, Directorate of Health in Iceland, Runar Elle Smelror, Norwegian Directorate of Health and Helena Frielingsdorf, The Public Health Agency of Sweden.
• 
  Panel debate: Nordic approaches to digital media, the tech industry and public health – lessons learned. Panel: Amalie Fudim Villesen, Chief Advisor, Ministry of Digital Affairs, Øystein Nilsen, Head of Department, Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, and Sara Fritzell, Senior Analyst, The Public Health Agency of Sweden.
• Harmful content and abusive online experiences – health impacts and policy implications. Daniel Kardefelt-Winther, Research Manager, Digital Engagement and Protection, UNICEF
  How is the DSA implemented and where do we stand now? Martin Harris-Hess, Head of Sector, Protection of Minors online, European Commission
• Panel debate: Connecting the dots – making European legislation, societal measures and individual behaviour work in harmony. Panel: Cassie Redlich, Technical Officer Mental Health, WHO, Martin Harris-Hess, Head of Sector, European Commission, Sonia Livingstone, Professor, Digital Futures for Children Centre, London School of Economics
• A digital future with children´s interests at heart. Presented by Sonia Livingstone, Digital Futures for Children centre, London School of Economics.

• Round table discussion on Bridging the know-do gap, future directions on Nordic and EU level.

The round table discussion after lunch is only for those attending the meeting in person, the other sessions will be broadcast. Registration for broadcast is made separately, please see below.

Registration

The conference is now fully booked.

You can however register for the broadcast between 9.30-12.00:

Digital media and its impact on children and adolescents – livestreamed Nordic and EU expert meeting

Fee

Participation is free of charge.

Speakers and panelists

Parisa Amiri (moderator)

The moderator is journalist and host Parisa Amiri, known for leading major broadcasts as well as cultural and current affairs programs. She is also a regular podcast contributor and news commentator, offering insights on contemporary societal issues.

Sonia Livingstone

Professor of Social Psychology Department of Media and Communications, London School of economics.

Sonia Livingstone is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has published 21 books on media audiences, children and young people’s risks and opportunities, media literacy and rights in the digital environment, including “Parenting for a Digital Future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children’s lives”and Digital Media Use in Early Childhood: Birth to Six. Since founding the EC-funded “EU Kids Online” research network, and Global Kids Online (with UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti), she has advised the Council of Europe, European Commission, European Parliament, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, OECD, ITU and UNICEF. She is currently leading the Digital Futures for Children centre at LSE with the 5Rights Foundation.

Sonia Livingstone (lse.ac.uk)

Martin Harris-Hess

Head of Sector – Protection of Minors online, European Commission.

Mark Petticrew

Professor of Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Petticrew is Professor of Public Health at LSHTM. His main research interests are in evidence-based policymaking, and his work also has a focus on the commercial determinants of health – in particular, the influence of unhealthy commodity industries on health (e.g. through the promotion of tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and unhealthy foods). Other research has examined alcohol advertising and marketing from a systems perspective, and includes analyses of misinformation disseminated by industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) bodies.

Jenný Ingudóttir

Directorate of Health in Iceland

Jenny Ingudottir is a Public Health specialist at the Directorate of Health in Iceland and has been working on health promotion in the school setting and on child and adolescent violence prevention. She has written a report on the effect of adolescents´ access to online pornography and is part of a steering group following up on the implementation of a parliamentary resolution on preventing sexual and gender-based violence against children. Jenny is part of the Nordic network about the child´s first 1000 days and was on the board of the National Home and School Association for several years.

Jens Kristoffersen

Danish Health Authority

Jens Kristoffersen is a senior advisor at the Danish Health Authority and has been working here since 2018. He his is primarily involved in work focusing on promotion of mental wellbeing and prevention of mental disorder, and has been involved in the Danish Health Authority’s work on the health effects of screen use, since the beginning in 2019. He has a degree in Human geography and in Public Health.

Runar Elle Smelror

Norwegian Directorate of Health

Runar is a clinical psychologist with a PhD in adolescent psychology. He leads the Norwegian Directorate of Health’s work on developing national recommendations for digital media use among children and adolescents. He has extensive research experience in the field of youth and digital health and is committed to translating academic knowledge into practical solutions.

Päivi Lindberg

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare

Päivi Lindberg is a Chief Specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. She works in the child welfare team, which gives a good perspective on issues related to children and young people. One of her current focus areas is the balanced promotion of the well-being and safety of children and young people in the digital ages.

Daniel Kardefelt-Winther

Research Manager, Digital Engagement and Protection, UNICEF Innocenti

Dr. Daniel Kardefelt-Winther leads the Digital Engagement and Protection unit at UNICEF’s Global Office of Research and Foresight, where he focuses on the intersection of child rights and digital technology. Over the past decade, he has developed UNICEF’s global research infrastructure on children’s digital experiences – spanning online risks, opportunities, and harms. Daniel has extensive experience designing and implementing multi-country research initiatives with children, families, and duty-bearers, having conducted studies in more than 40 low- and middle-income countries. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, where his research explored the impacts of excessive digital use, and he previously held a postdoctoral position at the Karolinska Institute’s Department of Clinical Neuroscience.

Cassie Redlich

Technical Officer, WHO Regional Office

Cassie Redlich is a Technical Officer with the Mental Health Flagship team at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. She has a background in clinical social work and public health, and over 15 years’ experience working in youth mental health policy and service development roles at the national, regional and global levels. Within the WHO Flagship she holds responsibility for mental health across the life course, including the mental health and wellbeing of children, adolescents and young people.

Amalie Fudim Villesen

Tech-policy fellow at Queen Mary Center, University of Copenhagen

Amalie is a senior advisor at Center for Social Media, Tech and Democracy at the Ministry of digital Affairs in Denmark. Her role is to develop new national and international policies and initiatives that create greater digital safety for especially children and young people. At the moment she is leading the national Alliance for safer and better digital lives of children and young people, that activate multiple governmental levels, civic society and Danish businesses in safeguarding children online.

Øystein Nilsen

Øystein Nilsen is department director for digital services at the Norwegian Directorate of Education. Nilsen has worked with issues around digital competence and digital services in schools and kindergartens for 15 years. He has been department director in the center for ICT in education and the Norwegian Directorate of Education since 2010. Nilsen has been central to the preparation of several national strategies for digitization and the establishment of national systems for the competence development of teachers.

Helena Frielingsdorf

Senior Analyst and researcher, Public Health Agency of Sweden

Helena Frielingsdorf is a physician-scientist with a specialisation in Psychiatry. She has led the Swedish government commission on digital media and health together with Sara Fritzell since the start in 2023. Her current research includes social medicine and global mental health, with a special focus on digital media and child health.

Sara Fritzell

Senior Analyst and researcher, Public Health Agency of Sweden

Sara Fritzell had a PhD in Epidemiology and public health. She has led the Swedish government commission on digital media and health together with Helena Frielingsdorf since the start in 2023. Her interests include equity in health and making science and knowledge useful in practice for different stakeholders.

Contact

If you have any questions or comments, please contact:

Marika Wiklund, marika.wiklund@folkhalsomyndigheten.se

Hosted by

The Public Health Agency of Sweden and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare in collaboration with the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and the Swedish Agency for the Media.

Sponsored by

The Nordic Council of Ministers.