Meta, Google to Microsoft, tech titans face child exploitation lawsuits

tech.hindustantimes.com:

On Tuesday, Meta was served a lawsuit by more than 30 US states, including 8 individual lawsuits from states, over the alleged use of features in Instagram and Facebook to lure children to the platform and get them hooked on harmful content. This fresh case has again opened the longstanding issue of companies exploiting children, one of the most vulnerable demographics of any digital user base in order to gain profit. However, Meta is not the only one to blame here. For years, many tech firms including Google, Microsoft, Apple, and others have faced similar lawsuits for failing to protect underage users.

So, if you have come across numerous news articles about Meta's lawsuit, you might be curious to know why is there a need to protect children online, and what dangers are they exposed to. The answer is a little complicated.

Unlike in real life, where the dangers are visible and often harm a person's physical well-being, in the digital space, there are invisible threats that damage a person's emotional and mental well-being.

For example, one of the charges on Meta is that its algorithm promotes harmful content on Facebook and Instagram for children. This content can be sexual or violent in nature, which affects the psychology of a growing child, but it can be far more subliminal. Even when these platforms promote age-appropriate but addictive content, it can have harmful effects. A study found that there is a 53 percent higher odds of poor sleep quality among adolescents with consistent bedtime social media use. It also found that “Social media increased use correlates to Emergency Department visits for mental illness, including depression, addiction, and anxiety”.

So, as even smaller triggers can affect the still-developing