Online Safety for All: Sociocultural Insights from a Systematic Review of Youth Online Safety in the Global South

2025-04-28

AI Summary

This study addresses the severe underrepresentation of adolescents from the Global South in online safety research. Conducting a systematic review of 66 empirical studies published between 2014 and 2024, it reveals structural limitations: Asia-dominated geographic coverage, strong quantitative bias, inadequate inclusion of marginalized youth, and overemphasis on cyberbullying at the expense of broader risks. As the first comprehensive mapping of this research landscape, the study employs cross-regional comparison, qualitative meta-synthesis, and critical methodology assessment to identify two core deficits—cultural contextualization gaps and methodological imbalance. It innovatively proposes a “contextualized, culturally responsive, youth-centered” research paradigm, shifting emphasis from risk containment toward sociodynamic empowerment. The work yields 12 actionable methodological recommendations and a forward-looking research agenda, thereby providing empirical grounding and theoretical scaffolding for inclusive digital literacy education.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Safety, Robustness & Trustworthiness

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Responsible Web: Mitigating online harms, including harassment, spam, and fake reviews
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data quality in the era of algorithmically-generated content

Abstract

Youth online safety research in HCI has historically centered on perspectives from the Global North, often overlooking the unique particularities and cultural contexts of regions in the Global South. This paper presents a systematic review of 66 youth online safety studies published between 2014 and 2024, specifically focusing on regions in the Global South. Our findings reveal a concentrated research focus in Asian countries and predominance of quantitative methods. We also found limited research on marginalized youth populations and a primary focus on risks related to cyberbullying. Our analysis underscores the critical role of cultural factors in shaping online safety, highlighting the need for educational approaches that integrate social dynamics and awareness. We propose methodological recommendations and a future research agenda that encourages the adoption of situated, culturally sensitive methodologies and youth-centered approaches to researching youth online safety regions in the Global South. This paper advocates for greater inclusivity in youth online safety research, emphasizing the importance of addressing varied sociocultural contexts to better understand and meet the online safety needs of youth in the Global South.

Problem

• Addressing lack of Global South perspectives in youth online safety research
• Identifying limited focus on marginalized youth and cyberbullying risks
• Advocating culturally sensitive methodologies for inclusive online safety studies

Innovation

• Systematic review of Global South youth safety
• Culturally sensitive methodologies for online safety
• Youth-centered approaches in diverse sociocultural contexts