Strengthening Digital Child Protection in Asia and Africa through the Islamic Digital Protection Framework (IDPF)

Background: Rapid digital transformation has increased children's exposure to cyberbullying, online exploitation, harmful content, privacy violations, and algorithm-driven risks. Although digital child protection regulations have expanded across Asia and Africa, comparative socio-legal studies integrating Islamic family law, child rights, and digital governance remain limited. Objective: This study examines regulatory approaches to digital child protection in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Nigeria and proposes the Islamic Digital Protection Framework (IDPF) as an integrative governance model. Methods: This study employs a qualitative comparative socio-legal approach combining doctrinal legal research, regulatory comparison, documentary analysis, and policy evaluation. The analysis integrates maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, Child Rights Theory, Digital Governance Theory, and Legal Pluralism Theory. Results: The findings reveal that the four jurisdictions recognize digital child protection as a regulatory priority but differ in approaches to age verification, parental responsibility, privacy protection, platform accountability, and institutional enforcement. These regulatory experiences are synthesized into the IDPF, consisting of five dimensions: adaptive regulatory compliance, technological safeguards, ethical platform governance, family and community participation, and Islamic normative values. Conclusion: The IDPF offers a comparative socio-legal governance model that connects Islamic family law with contemporary digital governance by emphasizing legal certainty, technological accountability, ethical responsibility, and collaborative protection. Novelty: This study introduces the IDPF as an original framework integrating Islamic legal principles, child rights, and digital governance through a comparative analysis of Asian and African jurisdictions.