On 8 July 2025, during the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC59), Saudi Arabia successfully pushed through a draft resolution titled “Child Protection in Cyberspace”. The resolution, adopted unanimously under Item 10 on cooperation and capacity building, is part of a global initiative launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to enhance international collaboration, build national capacities, and raise awareness to protect children online . At first glance, this initiative appears laudable, promising to address the growing risks children face in the digital sphere and ensure safer online environments worldwide.
Yet, beneath this diplomatic façade lies a stark contradiction. As documented by the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), the same state that now claims to lead efforts in protecting children online has, for over a decade, targeted minors for their digital activity. At least twelve individuals who were children at the time of their alleged offenses have been executed in Saudi Arabia, with their bodies withheld from families. Nine more minors are currently at risk of execution, facing charges as trivial as joining online chat groups or possessing images deemed “prohibited.” These practices violate Saudi Arabia’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which explicitly prohibits the execution of individuals for crimes committed while under the age of 18.
Compounding this hypocrisy is the domestic use of Saudi Arabia’s Cybercrime Law, a sweeping and vaguely worded legislation that criminalizes basic online speech. Under its provisions, children and adolescents have been arrested, tortured, and sentenced for peaceful digital expression—including participating in online discussions, sharing critical content, or communicating about protests. The same government now calling for stronger online protection of children at the UN actively weaponizes cyberspace at home to repress them.
As ESOHR highlights, this resolution cannot be seen in isolation. It is part of a broader effort by Saudi Arabia to use international platforms like the Human Rights Council to launder its image. By promoting initiatives that sound progressive and humanitarian, the kingdom seeks to present itself as a responsible global actor, even as its domestic record tells a very different story. A state that threatens the lives of minors for merely using phones or social media cannot credibly lead a global initiative to protect children online.
True leadership in this area would start by ending the prosecution and execution of minors, repealing repressive cybercrime laws, and ensuring that children in Saudi Arabia can access and use the internet safely and freely, without fear of arrest, torture, or death. Until these fundamental changes occur, any attempt to portray Saudi Arabia as a champion of online child protection will remain fundamentally discredited.