Peer-reviewed article
DIGITAL CHILD LABOUR. EMERGING CHALLENGES FOR ITALIAN LABOUR LAW
Carmen Di Carluccio ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper examines new forms of child labour emerging in the digital economy, including content creation on social media and involvement in the video game industry. It analyzes the Italian legal framework and identifies significant gaps in protecting children from online exploitation. The study concludes that current Italian legislation is inadequate to address the complexities of digital child labour and proposes the need for integrated legal reforms.
Key points
- Digital economy has created new forms of child labour that are often unrecognised and inadequately regulated
- Children are exposed to exploitation through social media content production and video game industry employment
- The Italian legal system lacks capacity to respond to the complexities of the new digital ecosystem
- Significant regulatory gaps exist in preventing and combating online child exploitation
- Reform requires an integrated and cross-sectoral approach to strengthen protection of minors
Limitations
This document is a legal analysis focused on identifying regulatory gaps in Italy rather than empirically measuring the prevalence, scale, or specific harms of digital child labour. It does not present data on how many children are affected or the outcomes of any interventions.
Abstract
The evolution of the digital economy has redefined the boundaries of child labour, giving rise to new forms of exploitation and vulnerability alongside traditional ones.From content production on social media to employment in the competitive video game industry, children today are exposed to risks that are often unrecognised and inadequately regulated.This paper examines the new frontiers of child labour in the digital age, with a particular focus on the Italian context, highlighting the main regulatory gaps and emerging legal challenges.In particular, it analyses the capacity of the current Italian legislative framework to prevent and combat the most insidious forms of online child exploitation.The analysis reveals the inadequacy of the Italian legal system to respond to the complexities of the new digital ecosystem.In conclusion, some guidelines are outlined for a reform aimed at strengthening the protection of minors, promoting an integrated and cross-sectoral approach.