I’m afraid they‘ll get a slap on the wrist and be forced to introduce face ID or something equally harmful for users after politicians get involved. I don‘t trust these things anymore when „it‘s about the children!“
I’m with ya. Especially with the blatant kiss assery from these two companies to the government, this headlines reads to me as “Google and Meta have agreed to give Trump even more money so that they can add even more surveillance to their products”
In don’t trust big corporations at all. Greedy mammoths with deep pockets buying politicians.
Partially to blame are the parents as well who shove tech in front of the kids to shut them up.
Its a fked up timeline.
Get their kids to shut up, because the greedy coperations now require both parents to work sometimes multiple jobs whilst the wealth pools towards the sociopathic owners.
“addiction in children’s brains”
I don’t think these corporations deliberately aimed their content at any age group. Kids are not ready for alcohol or cars or pron. Did the corporations care? Probably not. Would they have at one time, here in the US? Yes, back when legislators were answerable to their constituents. At one time the FCC worried about the lyrics in songs on the radio. The population was more uptight about it. Then.
OTOH: I recall times when parents oversaw what their children consumed. They didn’t need to buy them smartphones or laptops, and they could have enforced rulse on their use. Parenting isn’t for everyone.
YouTube explicitly has a service for children and I’m sure Facebook discovery would prove they explicitly market for children.
Facebook specifically was aware that teenage girls were especially harmed by their algorithms, so naturally, instead of reducing that harm, they leaned into it.
Facebook also makes it very hard as an adult to monitor a teens social media use and protect them. I was working with a teen who was joining dating groups made for adults, and the tools wouldn’t let me see the messages being sent. Wouldn’t let me report the groups.
Wouldn’t doubt it if they did market to kids. TV networks did it for decades, every Saturday morning, with no FCC challenges.
PBS had services for children as well. Were Bert and Ernie or Mr. Rogers ‘addictive’? I have no idea what YT for children is like, but I wouldn’t have handed my kids over to them to babysit without checking them out … frequently. Corporations exist for one purpose. Will government stop them?
I don’t think these corporations deliberately aimed their content at any age group.
Instagram intentionally targeted ads at teenagers specifically when they were identified as feeling low self worth or depressed. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/09/meta-whistleblower-sarah-wynn-williams-says-company-targeted-ads-at-teens-based-on-their-emotional-state/
Instagram used this data to more effectively keep teens hooked on the app. For example, they’d show a girl who just deleted a selfie out of embarrassment more photos of attractive women, which she would then likely scroll through, attempting to internally figure out how she could become attractive like them. Coincidentally, the perfect time for Instagram to then serve an ad for a new skin cream, weight loss program, etc.
“I don’t think these predators deliberately prey on the vulnerable” is one braindead take
Dude… kids are fucking cows to milk… in Europe we have special protections for them bundled in GDPR because they are sooooooo good targets with soooooo much potential. To give you some food for thought ; Microsoft is pushing their products as soon as schools so that kids are hooked. And they are far from being the worse….
Strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.
lawyers are funny
This just in: defense lawyer is defending their client
Gee, I wonder if the corporations will win these cases?
I love how I start to see frequently used the term of “addiction to socials” at a similar morale level of that of drugs
like the state they purchased will do anything against them with no pressure from the general populace.
Just roll all this back 40 years and sue TV broadcasters instead :) Nothing ever changes.
I think it could change, here in the US … whenever it’s clearly demonstrated that that’s what’s going on … and if parents then pressure legislators (if they can find enough willing to fight corporate interests) to control it. In the meantime, ‘saving the children’ will be up to parents who take measures themselves.
Parents will get the behavior they reinforce. My mom, whenever I asked for ANYTHING I saw on TV, NEVER responded. Kids that scream when the phone’s taken away should NEVER get them back.
