ABU DHABI, 10th December, 2025 (WAM) -- Former President of Senegal Macky Sall said the BRIDGE Summit 2025 has brought together stakeholders from governments, NGOs, political leadership and the private sector to shape a shared ethical framework for the future of digital technology.

Speaking to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the event, Sall - who served as president from 2012 to 2024 - described the summit as a unique platform that convenes a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

"This is the first time we see a BRIDGE Summit, and we have put together stakeholders from states, NGOs, the leadership, political leadership and the private sector, all together in order to discuss the content of the new platform of technology that we are producing," he said.

He added that the name of the summit reflects its purpose, noting, "I think it is good that the name itself expresses itself. It shows that people need to come together to discuss and to reach consensus."

Looking ahead, Sall expressed hope that tangible progress would be achieved soon. "My hope is that within a month to come, from now to next year, maybe we can reach something meaningful in terms of creating a bridge, levelling expectations, and putting together ethics, responsibility and confidence," he said.

Sall highlighted the importance of cultural preservation in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. "The lesson that I have learned, that I can draw from this, is that we need to preserve our cultural values, values of culture and civilisation. This is absolutely important vis--vis the digital content," he explained.

While he emphasised the need to protect creativity, freedom of expression and the free flow of ideas, Sall underlined the responsibility to safeguard younger generations. "Yes, we have to preserve creativity, diffusion, freedom of speech, etc., but we also need to protect our children," he said.

He pointed to Australia's recent decision to restrict access to digital platforms for children under 16 as an example worth considering. "One example has just been set by Australia, by forbidding access to children under 16 to the digital platform. I think this is a good example. We should all learn from this, a good example to try to modify worldwide," he noted.

Sall underscored the importance of judgement and media literacy among young users. "For the youth, for children, access to this digital platform requires self-judgment. If you do not have self-judgment, then you cannot see what is wrong, what is right, what is fake and what is really true," he said.

He concluded by calling for continued focus on the quality and impact of online content. "I think people need to be educated vis--vis the content of the digital platform. For me, this is absolutely important, that we focus the debate on this content and also on the self-judgment of people who are not seeing it," he added.