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'This case is about two of the richest corporations who have engineered addiction in children’s brains' — lawsuit against Meta and YouTube could decide the fate of social media (www.techradar.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 29 points 9 months ago* (8 children)

"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.

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  • [–] 35 points 9 months ago (4 children)

    YouTube explicitly has a service for children and I'm sure Facebook discovery would prove they explicitly market for children.

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  • [–] 36 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Facebook specifically was aware that teenage girls were especially harmed by their algorithms, so naturally, instead of reducing that harm, they leaned into it.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago

    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.

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  • [–] 10 points 9 months ago* (1 child)

    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?

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago*

    I don't think these corporations deliberately aimed their content at any age group.

    1 hour later:

    Wouldn't doubt it if they did market to kids.

    ... you do realize you are a clown person, right?

    Do you do this often, just a total 180 flip on your position, and then just move on as if that isn't what happened?

    And you go blathering on about some new thing that should be focused on, no acknowledgement that in about 1 hr of other people giving you basic, basic relevant facts to what you are claiming, that you are completely wrong?

    You're talking out your ass, you're just saying things, having not the first clue what you are talking about.

    Please, stop.

    You are embarassing yourself.

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  • [–] 27 points 9 months ago

    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.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago

    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….

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