Online protection for children overview:
- Who: State and federal government officials have been working to figure out ways to protect children from dangers associated with artificial intelligence and online activity.
- Why: The efforts include a pair of New York state bills, a lawsuit, a letter to Congress and a recommendation from the Federal Trade Commission.
- Where: Efforts are being made to protect children nationwide.
State and federal government officials have lately been working to figure out protection for children from the dangers and threats associated with artificial intelligence (AI) and online activity.
The efforts include a pair of New York state bills, a lawsuit against social networking company Meta Platforms, a letter to Congress urging AI protection for kids and a recommendation from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
An October report from media campaign performance analyzer Adalytics revealed that tech companies are allegedly tracking the online activity of children through YouTube videos marked “made for kids.”
Adalytics says it found that YouTube appears to be setting advertising companies and passing along the data it collects — as of June 2023 — in an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
YouTube and its parent company Google previously paid a fine of $170 million in 2019 to end FTC claims that they violated COPPA by allegedly collecting the data of children without having proper parental consent to do so.
New York bills aim to protect kids from mental health effects of social media use
Government officials in New York announced the creation of two bills in October that are intended to protect children from the allegedly damaging mental health effects associated with the excessive use of social media.
The bills, called the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and The New York Child Protection Act, would also prevent social media platforms from being able to collect data from their underage users without their informed consent.
“Our kids are in crisis, and the adults in the room need to step up,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement last month. “The statistics are extraordinarily disturbing: teen suicide rates are spiking, and diagnoses of anxiety and depression are surging.”
Under the bills, underage internet users would be prohibited from being able to access certain content deemed addictive without first obtaining consent from a parent.
42 state AGs claim Meta’s Instagram platform targets, harms children
The attorneys general from 42 U.S. states filed complaints against Meta Platforms last month over claims its Instagram platform targets children and causes young users to develop mental health issues.
Meta is accused of being aware Instagram allegedly causes mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, hyperactivity and lack of sleep, with the attorneys general arguing Meta does nothing to attempt to mitigate the alleged issues.
“Rather than take steps to reduce or disclose the harm, Meta leaned further into its profit-maximizing approach that hurts kids,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement last month.
AGs concerned AI could be used to sexually exploit children
Attorney generals from 50 states and four U.S. territories sent a letter to Congress in September in which they voiced concerns that AI technology could be used to sexually exploit children.
In their letter, the attorneys general urged Congress to establish an expert commission to study how AI technology can be used to sexually exploit kids, specifically through the generation of child sex abuse material.
“We are engaged in a race against time to protect the children of our country from the dangers of AI,” the letter states. “Indeed, the proverbial walls of the city have already been breached. Now is the time to act.”
FTC recommends advertisers clearly distinguish ads from entertainment in children’s games
Also in September, the FTC released recommendations on the protection of children from harm through online advertising.
The agency recommends advertisers make a clear distinction between what are advertisements and what are entertainment — avoiding what is known as “blurred advertising” — particularly for ads placed in immersive kids’ games.
“We now live in a world where kids spend many hours a day online, often in immersive environments where advertising and content are deliberately difficult to distinguish,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.
What are your thoughts on the recent efforts surrounding online protection for children? Let us know in the comments.
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