The Paris Peace Forum opens a children's summit: children's online safety moves onto leaders' agenda

By GZERO Media (via Yahoo) · November 9, 2026.

Franck Paris, the new director general of the Paris Peace Forum, argues that sovereignty without cooperation is "just an illusion." He made the remark in an interview with Tony Maciulis of GZERO Media on the sidelines of the forum's 2026 edition, held under the theme "from sovereignty to cooperation."

This year's new feature is an inaugural summit on children. Nearly 20 heads of state are expected to attend and endorse a joint declaration on children's well-being. In Paris's words, the meeting comes at a time when international solidarity is shrinking.

The summit will focus on children's online safety, one of the priorities of France's G7 presidency. Paris also spoke about the frustration of young people, in France and beyond, with the way the world is governed. In his view, that is reason enough to rethink how climate, minerals, agriculture and AI are governed. Before taking up the post, Paris served as Emmanuel Macron's adviser on Africa and represented France in Taiwan.

The source material is short: it summarizes an interview and includes neither the text of the declaration nor any concrete commitments. That makes it worth keeping what we know apart from what we think.

**Our take.** Bringing child protection to a summit of heads of state is real progress. The risks to children and teenagers (harmful content, addictive design, chatbots that simulate companionship) are growing faster than regulation. Once an issue is no longer handled only at the technical level, it gains political priority.

But a joint declaration binds no one. Multilateral declarations of this kind generally set the tone and rarely set sanctions or deadlines. Their value depends on countries turning them into national laws, age verification that actually works, and clear obligations for platforms and AI developers.

There is also a tension that Paris points to but leaves unresolved: calling for cooperation while digital sovereignty is hardening. Each country wants to set its own rules on platforms and AI, yet children use global services. Without shared minimum standards, companies will comply with the laxest rule.

Our view is that AI governance for minors should rest on evidence, not panic. That means measuring concrete harms and requiring safe-by-default design without banning the technology. In the short term, the transition will be slow and imperfect. In the long term, the same AI could serve as a tutor and a source of health support for every child, and that is worth protecting with good rules starting now.

The thing to watch is whether the declaration includes measurable commitments and who will verify them. That is what will separate a political gesture from lasting change.