Hi friend --
The kids aren’t alright – and social media is to blame. When the average kid signs up for social media at twelve and can be glued to a smartphone screen everywhere, social media’s addictive power is on full display. [1] Well-documented consequences of this addiction include anxiety, depression, body image problems, unwanted sexual advances, and suicidal thoughts. [2]
Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – has known about these problems for years. An internal whistleblower, Frances Haugen, alerted them to the problem in 2021. [3] Earlier this week, an internal security expert at the company, Arturo Béjar, has gone public with evidence that Meta routinely covered up internal evidence of harm. [4] What’s more, un-redacted court files from Massachusetts in a lawsuit against Meta revealed that Mark Zuckerburg repeatedly ignored staff at the highest levels who sounded the alarm about the profit-driven harm caused by their product. [5]
It’s hard enough for adults with fully-developed brains to break away from the deliberately addictive design choices that are engineered into today’s social media platforms – but it’s intentionally near-impossible for kids. And yet time and time again, Meta has tried to cover up and downplay the problem, resist regulation, and keep exploiting our kids for financial gain.
Enough is enough. Sign the petition today and tell Meta to stop targeting our kids.
There’s NO limit to how reckless and predatory Meta can be when it comes to targeting our kids. A 2021 report revealed that they hired engineers to build products designed for kids as young as six years old [6] – and even discussed targeting playdates as a means to hook more tweens on their platforms. [7]
So it shouldn’t come as any surprise why our kids are attached to their phones all day long – the platforms have been intentionally set-up to hook them early and keep them addicted, all in the name of juicing profits.
Accountable Tech has been sounding the alarm on this issue for years; in 2021, we launched Stop Instagram for Kids, and with the voices of people like you, we convinced Meta to stop developing a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13.
We’re fully supportive of the recent lawsuit by multiple states’ attorneys general to end this problem, but your voice is critical in this fight. Despite its massive size, Meta is still a consumer-focused business that depends on a base of trust from the public – a base that is rapidly eroding with each new disclosure of their manipulative nature when it comes to our kids.
So please sign the petition today and tell Meta to stop targeting our kids.
Thanks for speaking out today,
Nicole Gill
Co-founder and Executive Director
Accountable Tech.
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Chip in to support our work holding Big Tech accountable :
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CNN : What’s the average age when kids get a social media account?
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services : Surgeon General Issues New Advisory About Effects Social Media Use Has on Youth Mental Health
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The Verge : Facebook’s whistleblower report confirms what researchers have known for years
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Wall Street Journal : His Job Was to Make Instagram Safe for Teens. His 14-Year-Old Showed Him What the App Was Really Like.
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NBC : Documents reveal Facebook targeted children as young as 6 for consumer base
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NY Post : Facebook viewed children as ‘untapped audience,’ documents reveal
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Democracy depends on common truths. Social media giants are eroding our consensus reality and pushing democracy to the brink. Accountable Tech is fighting back by urging social media companies to serve the public good by strengthening the integrity of their platforms and our democracy. Make a donation to fund our work → © Accountable Tech
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