By The European Times | Created at 2026-10-09 13:37:04 | Updated at 2026-10-09 14:24:39
1 hour ago
An interactive event in Warsaw explored how artificial intelligence, platform algorithms and commercial interests influence young people’s digital experiences — and why their voices should matter in decisions about technology.
MEDIA-SOCIETY.COM // WARSAW, 9 October 2026 — What does a teenager actually encounter when opening a social media app? And how much of that experience is shaped by artificial intelligence and the commercial interests of technology companies?
Those questions were at the heart of an event organised by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Tactical Tech in Warsaw on 7 October.
Instead of relying on conventional presentations about online safety, the organisers invited participants to experience six scenarios illustrating the digital environments young people encounter.
The exercise formed part of Tactical Tech’s Toxic Triangle project, which examines how social media, artificial intelligence and commercial incentives interact to shape online behaviour.
Participants encountered situations involving AI-generated content, deepfakes and potentially harmful online experiences. They were also encouraged to consider something less immediately visible: the technological systems and financial incentives influencing which material reaches users.
Held alongside the 2026 Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, the event placed a familiar concern — children’s online safety — within a wider discussion about technology, business practices and human rights.
Looking behind the social media feed
A social media feed may appear to reflect a user’s personal interests. In practice, it is also shaped by recommendation systems that learn from user behaviour and determine which material receives greater visibility.
Tactical Tech describes the Toxic Triangle through three interconnected elements: the online world in which young people develop their identities and relationships; the technologies competing for their attention; and the commercial marketplace that turns engagement into economic value.
Its six interactive storylines examine subjects including body image, masculinity-related content, AI-generated cartoons, digital companions and deepfake technology.
Some scenarios explore what happens when teenagers search for particular subjects on social media over several days, illustrating how subsequent recommendations can influence their online experience.
Others focus on AI tools that allow users to interact with artificial companions or create manipulated content with relatively accessible technology.
The project is intended to help policymakers, educators, journalists and civil society organisations understand these systems from the perspective of young users.
Dominika Knoblochová of Tactical Tech explained that adults responsible for children need to understand not only what younger generations see online, but why particular content reaches them.
That distinction matters when considering public policy. Removing an individual harmful post does not necessarily address the platform design or commercial incentives that helped bring it to an audience.
Young people want a say in AI governance
The Warsaw event also considered who should participate in decisions about artificial intelligence.
Adelisa Sejtanic, a member of the OSCE pool of young experts, argued that the development and governance of AI must remain grounded in human rights, protecting individual freedoms as well as the wider public interest.
She also called for young people to have a meaningful role in shaping the policies governing technologies that affect their lives.
The question extends beyond inviting young people to comment on decisions already made. Their experiences could help policymakers identify problems that are difficult to recognise through technical assessments alone.
This approach is also reflected in UNICEF’s guidance on AI and children, updated in 2025. The publication addresses the responsibilities of governments and businesses in developing AI systems that protect children’s rights and take their particular needs into account.
Young people are often discussed primarily as vulnerable users requiring protection. Yet their familiarity with digital environments can also provide useful insight into how those environments function.
Finding ways to incorporate that knowledge into policymaking remains an important challenge.
Online safety is a human rights issue
The questions raised in Warsaw go beyond the detection of manipulated images or the regulation of individual platforms.
Artificial intelligence and social media also affect access to information, privacy, freedom of expression and participation in public life.
Deepfake technology, for example, can make it increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic material from manipulated content. Algorithmic recommendations can influence what information users encounter, while commercial incentives may favour content that attracts and retains attention.
These concerns do not eliminate the benefits of digital technology. Social media and AI tools also provide opportunities for learning, creativity, communication and participation.
The difficulty lies in protecting users without unnecessarily restricting those opportunities.
The Council of Europe’s guidelines on children’s rights in the digital environment address precisely this balance, recognising both the opportunities offered by technology and the responsibilities of governments and businesses to protect children.
Education is another part of the response. UNESCO’s guidance on generative AI in education and research calls for a human-centred approach that takes account of privacy, age-appropriate use and the responsibilities of educational institutions.
For teachers and social workers, understanding the systems behind young people’s online experiences may become as important as recognising harmful content itself.
From awareness to better decisions
The Warsaw exercise illustrated a difficulty facing technology policymakers: rules governing digital platforms are often developed at a considerable distance from the everyday experiences of their users.
By allowing participants to encounter simulated situations faced by young people, the Toxic Triangle project offered a practical starting point for examining problems that can otherwise remain abstract.
The subsequent discussion considered the responsibilities of different stakeholders, the difficulties faced by human rights defenders working on technology issues and ways to involve younger generations in policymaking.
No single exercise can resolve the competing demands of online safety, commercial interests and digital freedoms. But understanding how those interests interact is an important part of making informed decisions.
As artificial intelligence becomes more closely integrated with social media, governments will face growing pressure to explain not only how they intend to protect young users, but also how those users can participate in shaping the rules.
The question raised in Warsaw was therefore about more than what appears on a screen. It concerned who controls the systems behind it — and whose interests those systems ultimately serve.
