ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the international regulatory response to calls to protect children from the pernicious impact of cyberconflict must begin by better understanding the ways that cyberconflict affects and is affected by children. It shows that international efforts to regulate cyberconflict, largely advanced through international humanitarian law and international human rights law, are premised on mitigating a traditional conception of physical harm that is commonly associated with armed conflict but differs from how cyberconflict is experienced and waged. By considering the yet to be fully appreciated ways that cyberconflict harms children, and by calling attention to emerging concepts like that of the ‘digital child soldier’, this chapter promotes more inclusive and topical understandings of how conflict impacts children in the digital era. It asserts that efforts to regulate the relationship between cyberconflict and children need to further understand the precise nature of harms that result from the uncomfortable duality and multifaceted nature of children as victims and victimizers of cyberviolence.
