On Tuesday, a bipartisan coalition of 41 state attorneys general established it is time to hold Big Tech accountable for the tragedy social media has created concerning our children. If the evidence supporting kids’ online safety is so strong that it can bring together states that rarely agree on anything, why are all legislative efforts stymied?
The answer is unsurprising — Big Tech has repeatedly and loudly stated in public that it’s time to regulate social media, while privately funding trade lobbying groups that sue the states that try.
Facebook, which updated its company name to Meta in 2022, and Google like to present themselves as champions of online protection for children and teens. With fanfare, they announce new principles, safety centers and legislative frameworks. Meta even recently expressed their supposed dedication to age-appropriate online protections for kids. But these are nothing more than a distraction.
As someone who has witnessed the inner workings of Big Tech up close, and whose revelations from my time at Facebook helped spark this week’s lawsuit against them for violating children’s privacy, I call foul. Both Meta and Google’s vocal protestations that they want age-appropriate regulation come at a time when the trade group acting in their name, NetChoice, is wreaking havoc on landmark legislation that would enshrine just that.
Meta, Google: you can’t have it both ways.
NetChoice, despite its innocuous-seeming name, is a juggernaut. They represent a who’s who of tech, including Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon, Snap, Yahoo and Lyft to name a few. NetChoice, along with another fellow tech trade association, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, have brought or joined several lawsuits this past year aiming to block online privacy protections passed in states, stalling what little progress we’ve seen. In the case of the Age Appropriate Design Code, they have blocked a framework nearly identical to one in the United Kingdom that is already in force and with which their member companies are complying.
NetChoice and other tech lobbying groups have poured money into blocking privacy legislation in states and D.C. This includes advocating against legislation created with an emphasis on safe design practices across the platforms most used by young people.
The bipartisan group of attorneys general who filed a joint suit against Meta accused them of deceptive practices and harmful design leading to the mental health crisis facing kids in our country. Hundreds of kids and their families have filed suits for physical and mental harm caused by the addictive nature and harmful algorithms on Instagram and other platforms, not to mention hundreds of school districts. Big Tech is making lots of enemies and still, they refuse to admit any fault or make any change.
From my time at Meta, I know firsthand the ethical and moral responsibilities that tech companies bear regarding their impact on society, especially when it comes to children and teenagers. These companies claim there’s nothing more they can do without ruining the internet as we know it, but the reality is there are lots of things they can do. And the reason they haven’t done them is because it makes them less profitable. Not unprofitable, just less profitable. And no company has the right to subsidize their profits by sacrificing our children’s physical and mental well-being.
We need comprehensive legislation that addresses the dangers children face in the digital age. It is essential that we see Google’s legislative proposals and Meta’s safety protocols as a starting point for dialogue, not the end of the conversation.
We must ask whether calls for child protection are genuine or merely another calculated move in a game where profits and public image reign supreme. Our children’s safety deserves more than hollow promises and half-hearted gestures. It’s time for Google, Meta and other tech giants to act with sincerity.
YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan put it this way last week: “We need a clear regulatory blueprint for the policies and services needed from websites and platforms across the internet.”
Let’s do it. Big Tech: Call off your attack dogs or leave them behind.
Frances Haugen is a former Meta employee who, in 2021, came forward as a Facebook whistleblower.