Relevance to Internet Governance: Internet technologies and specifically social media have provided today’s society with a new public space for communication and expression, as they offer a chance to participate in discussions about matters of common concern. The internet and more specifically social media platforms offer users a chance to interpret news provided by the media, shape or reshape them according to their ideologies and post them via their accounts. In many countries across the world, social media transformed communication from a mouthpiece for the government to a tool used to express thoughts and opinions about events. Thus, it plays a major role in shaping public opinion of today’s society. Social media influencers are especially popular among minors. Hence, influencers seem to play an important role in minors' lives because minors spend a large part of their time watching, viewing, liking, forwarding, and commenting on influencers' content. As such, the level of involvement with influencer content seems high. Moreover, minors turn to these influencers not only for entertainment, but also for information, advice, company and comfort. However, scientifically-grounded insights on the role of social media influencers in the lives of children and adolescents are still scarce. Firstly because influencers are assumed to be so appealing because they are similar to their audiences. They are often perceived as 'the boy or girl next door' with whom identification is easy. However, there are probably more reasons for the attraction of influencers. Hence a multi-stakeholder discussion is needed to unravel mechanisms that explain the appeal of social media influencers. Secondly, the impact of social media influencers on minors may have both desirable and undesirable consequences. Influencers may inspire minors to behave pro-socially or more healthy, but they may also show bad examples (e.g. smoking, drinking). In addition, influencer content may also affect minors' psychological well-being, materialism, and body satisfaction. Thirdly, because social media influencers are assumed to have impact on their audiences, they are also used by third parties for commercial purposes. For example, brands pay influencers to promote products in content that influencers create. Similarly, governments or NGO's turn to influencers to promote healthy, social, or environmental friendly behavior among minors. Lastly, some social media influencers are often minors themselves. With major brands signing up for paid partnerships, a growing number of child and adolescent influencers (and their parents) are striving to make a profit, which leads to important legal, ethical and philosophical questions. Against this background, this workshop aims to enhance the understanding of the role of social media influencers/movements in the lives of people and most specifically minors.

Relevance to Theme: Social media networks have reshaped the internet and give opportunities for everyone to showcase themselves freely. However, people are also exposed to only what their “friends” choose to share and if that content is valuable, it will be spread further through friend networks. Moreover, activities formed on social media platforms like Facebook are considered a major sensor of public opinion. Hence, social media networks are considered by activists as a bullhorn that can reach many people through shared space on an unlimited scale. That said, the proposed session will contribute to the narrative of the Thematic Track Trust - as it relates to the need for people to be safe and secure online while being able to express themselves freely in a healthy and empowering digital environment. Associated issues that will be picked up during this session are: Digital safety, child online safety, human rights, hate speech, social media platforms, freedom of expression online, disinformation/fake news and democracy.