Administrative and legal mechanisms for the prevention of cyber offenses among minors: comparative analysis

The article analyzes administrative-legal mechanisms for preventing unlawful behavior of minors in cyberspace amid digital transformation, proposing measures to improve Kazakhstan`s legislation. It assesses international experience and its adaptation to the national legal system. The research applies comparative legal analysis, content analysis of normative legal acts, and legal modeling. Interviews with Almaty secondary schools’ inspectors and an online parent survey were conducted, empirical data from open sources analyzed. The study identified the absence of specific provisions in the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses (CAO) regulating minors` digital misconduct. Weak interagency coordination and limited information exchange between schools and law enforcement reduce children’s online safety. Survey and interview results showed low parental awareness of children’s digital behavior and insufficient school-based prevention. Analysis of international approaches (the UK Online Safety Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)) revealed effective ways to protect minors online and relevant adaptation models. This demonstrates the need to update administrative-legal regulation. It proposes introducing CAO provisions on minors` cyber offenses, establishing mandatory information-exchange procedures between schools and law enforcement, developing digital literacy, cyber hygiene programs, and implementing an interagency mechanism for monitoring children’s online safety.

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