Digital environments offer children many meaningful and educational activities. However, the downside is that apps and algorithms feed children harmful content and even expose them to online violence.
With a million-dollar grant from the Google.org, Save the Children will continue its joint Nordic program, Digital Citizenship 2.0, to improve children’s digital safety in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.
According to a report by Save the Children, one in five children in Finland is unintentionally exposed to content dealing with self-harm and war online. More than half of children say they have encountered unpleasant or frightening content online.
With a million-dollar (USD) grant from the Google.org, Save the Children will use the joint Nordic Digital Citizenship 2.0 program in 2026 and 2027 to enhance online child safety in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. The program will provide comprehensive training to more than 60,000 children, teachers, and caregivers.
Activities include interactive school workshops for children, specialized training modules for educators to integrate digital safety into curricula, and engaging webinars and resources for parents and caregivers across the region.
Beyond direct training, the project will also launch awareness campaigns reaching more than one million people and promote helplines, aiming for widespread dissemination of online safety messages.
The goal is to increase the online safety understanding among children, teachers, and caregivers, empowering digital citizenship and fostering a more supportive online environment.
The support provided by the Google. org will enable not only the expansion of activities but also the deepening and development of Nordic cooperation.
“With Google.org’s support, Save the Children will provide online safety training to more than 60,000 children, teachers, and caregivers across the Nordics. Their expertise is essential, and we are incredibly proud to support nonprofits working on educational child safety programs to help children become confident explorers of the online world”, Alessia Scarpellini, Senior Program Manager at Google.org.
Children in the Nordic countries spend more time in digital environments than anywhere else in the world. Save the Children has solid and extensive expertise in supporting children’s digital safety and well-being.
“We do important and diverse work in the Nordic countries to prevent harm to children in digital environments. With the Digital Citizenship 2.0 program, we can deepen Nordic cooperation and work even harder to make children’s everyday digital lives safer,” says Development Manager Laura Sillanpää from Save the Children Finland.
In Finland, Google.org’s support is directed to the Huippula service, which provides early childhood education and primary school teachers with easy-to-use, high-quality materials to support media education. The service and all teaching materials are free of charge and available to schools nationwide in Finnish and Swedish. Parents can also find practical information and tools on Huippula to support a better digital everyday life for their families. Save the Children Finland coordinates the Nordic cooperation of the Digital Citizenship 2.0 program.
