Online Safety Community Group created

The Online Safety Community Group has been launched:
  https://www.w3.org/community/online-safety/

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The mission of this group is to provide a discussion forum about the technical and architectural considerations for online safety, including safety for children online. While many see a particular interest in bolstering safety for vulnerable populations such as children, safety is important to all users of the Web.

The scope includes discussions of architectures for age-based restrictions to content online, as a potential tool for children’s online safety. This is a complicated techno-policy issue, and proposed regulations often suffer from lack of understanding about available technologies, including their capabilities, limitations, and implications. Choices made in support of age-gating systems may have significant effects on global networks and their end users, impacting human rights as well as core architectural principles. This topic and the potential for a community group was discussed at (among other places), [W3C TPAC 2025](https://www.w3.org/2025/11/12-age-restrictions-minutes.html), [W3C Breakouts Day 2026](https://docs.google.com/document/d/15n0Cv_NPkn3SIPJxvUEhJWXL0YgFfsJRIRZO35psYLE/edit?tab=t.0) and the [Privacy Working Group](https://github.com/w3c/privacywg/blob/main/minutes/2026/privacywg-20260416.md#aob), and follows conversation at the [IAB/W3C Workshop on Age-Based Restrictions on Content Access in 2026](https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-iab-agews-report-02.html), and [with the W3C Technical Architecture Group](https://github.com/w3ctag/meetings/blob/gh-pages/2026/telcons/01-26-minutes.md#age-restrictions-on-the-web). The amount of attention indicates that technologists and other interested parties are seeking a forum where these issues can be examined in depth, among a diverse group of experts.

This CG expects to support the following goals (among others):

- developing a shared understanding of age-based content restriction considerations;
- deepening insights into technical mechanisms (e.g., zero-knowledge proofs, device-enforcement): their capabilities, limitations, and deployment considerations;
- modeling threats to online safety, including harassment, unwanted contact, distressing content, disclosure of personal information (including “doxxing”) and other forms of abuse, especially to vulnerable or marginalized people;
- analyzing how technological choices influence privacy, freedom of expression, Internet fragmentation, and centralization;
- sharing relevant resources, such as research papers and policy documents;
- identifying and incubating technical standards work (if any) for addressing these issues.

This group may publish specifications and other types of reports, either as incubation for future standardization or as information or feedback for stakeholders, including policymakers, interested in online safety.

Previously published [W3C Statements](https://www.w3.org/policies/process/#w3c-statement) may provide useful guidance and context for further work including the Privacy Principles (on [vulnerability](https://www.w3.org/TR/privacy-principles/#vulnerability), [guardians](https://www.w3.org/TR/privacy-principles/#guardians), [device administrators](https://www.w3.org/TR/privacy-principles/#device-administrators), [protection from abusive behavior](https://www.w3.org/TR/privacy-principles/#protecting-web-users-from-abusive-behaviour)) and Ethical Web Principles (on [harm to society](https://www.w3.org/TR/ethical-web-principles/#noharm), [healthy community](https://www.w3.org/TR/ethical-web-principles/#community), [universal access](https://www.w3.org/TR/ethical-web-principles/#allpeople), [privacy](https://www.w3.org/TR/ethical-web-principles/#privacy)and [free expression](https://www.w3.org/TR/ethical-web-principles/#expression)).
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To join:
  https://www.w3.org/community/online-safety/join

If you do not have one already, you will need a W3C account to join:
  https://www.w3.org/account/request/

This is a community initiative. W3C's hosting of this group does not
imply endorsement of the activities.

The group must now choose a chair:
  https://www.w3.org/community/about/faq/#how-do-we-choose-a-chair

For more information about getting started in the new group, see:
  https://www.w3.org/community/about/faq/#how-do-we-get-started-in-a-new-group

and good practice for running a group:
  https://www.w3.org/community/about/good-practice-for-running-a-group/

We invite you to share news of this new group in social media
and other channels.

If you believe that there is an issue with this group that requires
the attention of the W3C staff, please email us at team-community-process@w3.org

Thank you,

W3C Community Development Team

Received on Thursday, 30 April 2026 19:38:11 UTC