Products optimize for engagement over well-being. Dark patterns are routine. Children are exposed to manipulative design. Mental health effects are externalized.
Human well-being is the design target. Engagement metrics are subordinate to outcomes that serve users and communities. Protections for minors are default, not opt-in.
Meta reached a $17B settlement with 52 state AGs mandating age gates on Instagram and Facebook for minors, but EFF argues the deal increases surveillance for all users, expands parental monitoring of teens, and requires more data collection rather than less.
ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox face stricter EU content moderation requirements under the Digital Services Act, with obligations for risk assessments, algorithmic transparency, and user redress.
California legislature passed AB 1709 banning social media platforms from deploying algorithmic recommendation features to users under 16; EFF urges Governor Newsom to veto on free speech grounds.
Meta agreed to a legal settlement requiring default 2-hour daily limits and no-late-nights restrictions on teen accounts across Instagram and Facebook, implementing binding age-appropriate design protections for minors.
California Attorney General Bonta secured a $17 billion settlement with Meta requiring fundamental changes to Instagram and Facebook, establishing major state-level accountability for platform harms to minors.
MIT Media Lab study finds AI chatbots affect users' accuracy evaluating news headlines; MIT Technology Review coverage advances mainstream discourse on AI's cognitive effects.
Meta's Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified in the US children's addiction trial that few teenagers were aware of a key safety feature, raising questions about the platform's minor protection design obligations.
OpenAI expanded ChatGPT's advertising product to European markets, bringing ad-supported monetization to frontier AI across the EU.
MIT Technology Review profiles children's emotional bond with Moxie, the AI robot companion, examining mental health and developmental harms when AI companions are shut down.
California AG Bonta opened trial against Meta, arguing the platform's algorithmic design fueled a mental health crisis in a generation of children. Opening statements in the landmark liability case have begun.
France's constitutional court has blocked a social media ban for users under 15, setting a legal precedent in a major EU member state that limits the scope of minor-protection digital legislation.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll finds most Americans support stronger oversight of social media companies, including age-verification tools to protect younger children.
France's Constitutional Council struck down legislation banning social media for under-15s, ruling the blanket ban infringed on free expression and required disproportionate age verification of all users including adults.
Meta shares fell as CEO Zuckerberg defended the company's AI agent strategy based on personalized bots, with costs rising and revenue projections disappointing investors. The company is doubling down on deploying attention-capturing AI agents despite market skepticism.
A US federal appeals court blocked part of Texas's children's online safety law, weakening state-level protections for minors online and potentially setting adverse precedent for future regulatory efforts.