Digital Safety Risk Assessment in Action: A Framework and Bank of Case Studies

The World Economic Forum's Global Coalition for Digital Safety has developed a holistic, harm-and-service-agnostic risk assessment framework to help organizations proactively foster safer online environments. The framework follows a cyclical five-stage process: identifying risk, reducing risk, mitigating harm, repairing harm, and reporting. To illustrate operationalization, the report provides six case studies covering industry best practices (DTSP), human rights due diligence (GNI), national codes of practice (New Zealand), safety-by-design tools (Australia), child safety in the metaverse, and AI impact assessments for search engines.

• The proposed risk assessment framework utilizes a cyclical five-stage process to link potential risks with realized harms: (0) Identify risk, (1) Reduce risk, (2) Mitigate harm, (3) Repair harm, and (4) Report, all underpinned by organizational governance.
• The Digital Trust & Safety Partnership (DTSP) uses a 'tailoring framework' to ensure risk assessments are proportionate to an organization's size, scale, and potential impact, preventing the process from being overly resource-intensive for smaller companies.
• The Global Network Initiative (GNI) framework emphasizes Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD), prioritizing risks based on scope (number of people impacted), scale (gravity of impact), remediability, and likelihood.
• The Aotearoa New Zealand Code of Practice for Online Safety and Harms is a voluntary, systems- and outcomes-based framework that integrates local Māori principles such as Mana (integrity and respect) and Mahi tahi (collaboration).
• The Australian eSafety Commissioner’s Safety by Design tool for start-ups uses a questionnaire to identify safety gaps and provides practical resources like a business model canvas to embed safety into product development ahead of time.
• In immersive environments like the metaverse, risk assessments must account for unique vectors such as 'intermingling' (adults and children co-playing), in-game wealth generation, and the ability to edit avatars and environments.
• AI impact assessments for search engines must address 'data voids'—where relevant data is limited or problematic—and the challenge of 'black swan' events, such as live-streamed violence, which require rapid response.
• A significant challenge in AI-driven and human-curated safety processes is the unequal availability of training materials and expertise across different cultures and languages.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Digital Safety Risk Assessment in Action: A Framework and Bank of Case Studies. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Coalition_Digital_Safety_Risk_Assessments_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Digital Safety Risk Assessment in Action: A Framework and Bank of Case Studies. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Coalition_Digital_Safety_Risk_Assessments_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Digital Safety Risk Assessment in Action: A Framework and Bank of Case Studies |date=May 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Coalition_Digital_Safety_Risk_Assessments_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023digital, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Digital Safety Risk Assessment in Action: A Framework and Bank of Case Studies}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Coalition_Digital_Safety_Risk_Assessments_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }