UK and G7 partners have for the first time agreed a common approach to shielding children and young people from harm online.

G7 countries have agreed to a set of new shared principles to help tackle the growing risks children face in a digital world, from harmful content to exploitation.

These are centred around promoting digital literacy, addressing risks to children from AI chatbots, and pushing digital services providers to take a robust approach to online safety.

The landmark G7 agreement sets clear expectations that children’s safety should not be an afterthought, but built into digital services from the start, underpinned by effective age assurance. There is also a commitment to closer cooperation between digital service providers and children, parents and guardians.

The agreement comes just a few days after the UK’s consultation on protecting children from online harms closed.

As part of the discussions at the G7, countries also agreed that data sharing between online platforms, parents and researchers should be improved, to better understand how digital services impact children’s wellbeing.

“AI and other technologies have the power to transform our economies and create prosperity for people across all our nations,” science and technology secretary Liz Kendll said.

“But ordinary citizens and businesses will only see those benefits when they have trust that these technologies are being developed safely and responsibly — and when children can grow up in a digital world designed with their wellbeing in mind.

“The agreements we have reached today are an important step on that journey: outlining a shared approach to protecting our children, backing our small businesses to adopt AI, and ensuring AI is developed safely and responsibly.”

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The G7 countries affirmed their commitment to ensuring AI is developed safetly, while highlighting the importance of staying ahead of evolving cyber-attacks.

Prior to the G7 meeting, the UK and France signed a new science and technology deal that will see funding provided for research team partnerships between the countries.