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.
Florida's attorney general filed a court action to compel Meta to implement stronger default protections for teenage users on Facebook and Instagram.
OpenAI disclosed that teens use ChatGPT under 15 minutes daily on average and under 2% exceed 3 consecutive hours, as companies face growing scrutiny over AI chatbot risks to children.
OpenAI announced a new advertising format for ChatGPT, introducing ad-based monetization that embeds commercial attention-capture incentives into a widely-used AI assistant.
The European Commission is collecting public feedback on the EU KIDS Act, a proposed age-appropriate design framework for protecting children online. The consultation marks a formal step toward binding EU child protection requirements for digital services.
EFF reports DraftKings uses ML to identify and re-engage losing gamblers through behavioral ads, amplifying harms via AI-driven data collection; EFF calls for a ban on all behavioral advertising.
The European Commission hosted a Youth Policy Dialogue focused on the protection of minors online and addressing cyberbullying, convening young citizens to inform digital safety policy.
TikTok withdrew two appeals and accepted a £12.7m fine from the UK ICO for violating the Children's Code, concluding a significant enforcement action protecting minors' data.
The European Commission adopted the EU KIDS Act, establishing binding restrictions on social media platforms' access to children across the EU.
Meta settled with 52 US states and territories requiring age gating, two-hour daily time limits, and content restrictions for users under 18 on Instagram and Facebook; EFF argues the restrictions limit youth civic organizing.
California Governor Newsom signed AB 1709, a functional ban on social media for users under 16. EFF criticizes the law as ineffectual at protecting young people and counterproductive, as age-gating requirements force companies to collect more personal data, further concentrating power in fewer hands rather than addressing underlying surveillance business models.
Two of America's largest school districts have imposed moratoriums on AI use, providing institutional protective action for millions of student users.
A Minnesota court rejected xAI's attempt to block the state's ban on AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery, upholding the law and setting precedent for AI content restriction statutes withstanding legal challenges from frontier labs.
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.