by Yassine Chagh
As a young activist with marginalised, intersecting identities, I find myself lost and uncertain about where to begin when it comes to staying safe online.
Should I start with the AI technologies that are inherently racist, sexist, and non-inclusive of queer identities by design? The shadow-banning and silencing of young critical voices ? The constant violations of data privacy, the lack of meaningful engagement, or the relentless tokenism of youth participation in online spaces?
In October 2024, Tech and Society Summit, the first civil society-led summit in Brussels, brought our collective digital agenda for the future to policymakers. I joined the event, not just as a passionate activist and human rights advocate, but also as a vulnerable, anxious individual who happens to be a person of colour, a migrant, and queer. There were few of us in the summit, in the sea of heteronormative whiteness that is EU policymaking.
What such a space leads to are policies such as the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, through the lens of which we are dangerous potential criminals, subject to invasive biometric data collection, police scrutiny, and intrusive border technologies “to protect the EU”. It leads to ‘community guidelines’ of social media platforms, the enforcement of which sees people like us as a threat to the status-quo when voicing community issues or just sharing our experiences in these platforms — while racist, colonial, homophobic, transphobic, and sexist narratives remain unchecked and unchallenged.
We experience being seen as seemingly out of place, but also as brave and radical changemakers in the rare moments we are given space. And we have to be brave – these issues threaten our digital lifelines, stripping away the spaces where we’ve fought to express ourselves and exist.
And yet, those most affected by these injustices are rarely part of the conversation— our voices are silenced, stories erased, and identities ignored. This exclusion isn’t just immediate; it extends beyond the present, deeply embedded in a digital world that continues to marginalise and erase us.
It also isn’t surprising, then, that the ‘solutions’ coming out of exclusionary spaces that don’t consider our voices as important do more harm than good.
Digital platforms broken by design
For many young people, especially those with mutiple marginalisations, digital platforms are often the most accessible place for self expression, advocacy and community-building. By silencing our voices in these spaces, it doesn’t only discourage participation but also deepens our feelings of isolation and invisibility — mirroring familiar offline experiences where youth voices remain at the back burner of ‘grown-up conversations’.
For instance, consider the suppression of certain content or users without their knowledge that often happens in these spaces. This ‘shadow-banning’ is presented as a ‘technical glitch’ but is often tied to systemic discrimination or even directly to being labelled as ‘content against community guidelines’. Examples include the of silencing pro-Palestinian content by Meta under the guise of ‘violating’ guidelines. This is symptomatic of the dangerous right-wing climate we find ourselves in, which harbours censorship of marginalised voices.
Discussions around queer rights, race, and other systemic socioeconomic issues are disproportionately affected, reducing the visibility of these crucial conversations. In these instances, digital spaces, meant to provide a platform for young marginalised voices, instead become a tool of control.
The oppressive nature of many digital platforms leaves young people feeling targeted, abused and even violated. Rather than enjoying the spaces these platforms promise and market, we are forced to become resilient and battle systemic issues that these platforms are not addressing in their design.
What is actually ‘unsafe’ for young people in online spaces?
It’s not ‘age-inappropriate’ or sexually explicit content that makes online spaces unsafe for us. What really endagers our self-expression online are frequent digital attacks – often driven by misogyny, racism, queerphobia led by alt and far-right groups who are emboldened by the global rise of authoritarian leaders. The inability of platforms to manage harassment and provide effective reporting mechanisms leads to a hostile environment for us and the communities we represent in our advocacies.
This causes us to suffer mental health challenges, which sometimes leads us to ultimately abandon, and even deliberately boycott these platforms. We take control of the narrative by choosing to disengage from online spaces that promised to bring us freedom and community.
What will make us safe is to ensure that platforms take our reports seriously and manage harassment effectively. ‘Silver bullet’ measures like age verification systems are not only disproportionate, but also inappropriate – they violate our rights to freedom and autonomy.
Alongside shadow-banning and rampant online harassment, inherently biased (read: heteronormative and white-centered) technologies and policies continue to reinforce the erasure of marginalised youth voices, sending a clear message: our voices and identities don’t matter in these spaces.
In this way, these platforms and services contribute not only to digital exclusion and erasure of entire communities, but also to harmful ripple effects that extend into everyday life – from policy development to healthcare access and equal opportunities.
This erasure isn’t just a failure for young people and marginalised groups, it is a failure for society as a whole. Policies based on this exclusion are not only ineffective and misaligned with reality, but also fundamentally unjust. They fail to address the unique needs of marginalised young people.
Give us a seat at the ‘grown up’ table for continued action
The only path to dismantling the patriarchal and racist foundations upon which these systems are built is by involving communities, particularly marginalised communities, at every step of the way. Leaving it to the same old tools with the same old folks who are benefiting from the oppressive system can’t be our way out of this.
We cannot allow the same predominant demographic of actors with limited understanding of the local realities to dictate who gets visibility and who remains silenced. Whether through guidelines for the protection of minors or through other sets of principles, making online spaces safe should be a constant conversation for all, most importantly for us young people who are at the centre of these debates. Our involvement should go beyond mere panels, conversations, youth assemblies, task forces, or advisory panels. It requires for us to be part of reimagining power structures where no one is left behind.
Young leaders—particularly from marginalised groups, and racialised and queer communities—also play an important role in this and should be given a seat at the ‘grown-up’ table. We should create spaces where all generations can collaborate as equals and embrace true co-conspiratorship, instead of falling back on performative “allyship” that is pink-washed or race-washed.
“Nothing for us without us” is a principle we need to keep pushing for, from policymaking to product design. What we need are community-centred, open and inclusive services that would genuinely make young people feel safe, empowered and heard.
(This article could not have been written without the ample and invaluable work of Janine Patricia Santos, PhD, Policy Advisor at EDRi)
Yassine Chagh is a human rights activist currently serving as Chair of IGLYO and Anti-Racism Panel Coordinator, as well as Project Coordinator at Queerstion. Their work focuses on a wide range of issues, including refugee and migrant rights, peacebuilding, digital rights, anti-racism, and decolonisation—particularly challenging white saviourism, white supremacy, and tokenistic approaches both within the LGBTQIA+ community and beyond. Yassine’s expertise is rooted in lived experiences as an Indigenous, migrant, and Black/person of colour, as well as through active engagement with various local and global organisations and platforms such as UNFICYP, UNHCR, WOMEN WIN, European Youth Forum and more.