Big Tech's danger to kids finally aligns Democrats, Republicans

Big Tech's danger to kids finally aligns Democrats, Republicans

More than once over the course of a five-hour hearing before Congress on Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's parenting style became a point of focus for angry lawmakers. One House Republican asked if he had issues with his young daughters watching YouTube. Another asked if he lets them use Facebook's own services. 

"My daughters are five and three, and they don't use our products," Zuckerberg said, before adding that he lets his older child use Facebook's chat app for kids. 

The exchange typified a common refrain as the leaders of Facebook, Google and Twitter weathered a grilling from Congress -- the fourth such event in the last year where a Big Tech CEO took the hot seat -- over the misinformation that flows through their platforms. While lawmakers tried to advance their disparate agendas, one bipartisan theme emerged among Democrats and Republicans who are usually bitterly divided: the danger of Silicon Valley's services on children. 

"Big tech is essentially handing our children a lit cigarette and hoping they stay addicted for life," said Rep. Bill Johnson, an Ohio Republican. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat from Florida, peppered the CEOs with statistics that show a rising level of depression and suicidal thoughts among adolescents that coincides with the rise of social media. 

Historically, Big Tech products have been reserved for people 13 and older. But in the past few years, companies like Google and Facebook have tried to push the bounds of those limits, creating services for younger and younger kids. (Twitter, primarily used by older users, evaded scrutiny on the issue.)

YouTube Kids, launched in 2015, is billed as a child-safe version of the massive Google-owned site. Last month, Google said it's testing new parental controls for kids 9 and up to use the full scale version of YouTube. Facebook four years ago unveiled a version of its Messenger chat app for kids to talk to their parents and friends. Now, the social network is working on a version of Instagram for kids under 13.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he doesn't let his young daughters use the company's products, except Messenger for Kids.

Screenshot by Sarah Tew/CNET

Technical issues like content moderation or the opaque advertising model of social networks are hard concepts to grasp, so lawmakers have glommed on to an issue that's more visceral and universal in nature: the safety of our children. It isn't a topic that the tech executives can easily swat away. 

Even tech luminaries have sounded the alarm. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates talked about raising their kids with limited tech. Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has recently feuded with Facebook, has said he doesn't want his nephew on a social network.

"These hearings reflect an emboldened Congress and a tech industry that's on the defensive because the companies know that serious regulation and legislation is coming," said Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, a child advocacy nonprofit. "No one is going to take Mark Zuckerberg seriously as a voice for parents, but the truth is our kids lives are being dramatically shaped by social media and internet platforms."

Silicon Valley companies have received blowback in the past when they've waded into kids products. YouTube Kids faced controversy in 2017 when the service's filters failed to recognize some videos that feature disturbing imagery but are aimed at children -- like Mickey Mouse lying in a pool of blood, or PAW Patrol characters bursting into flames after a car crash. Facebook's Messenger for Kids, meanwhile, suffered a bug in 2019 that let children join group chats with strangers. 

Critics accuse Google and Facebook of skirting the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, a federal law that regulates user data collection from sites with users who are under 13 years old. In 2019, the US Federal Trade Commission slapped the company with a record $170 million fine, as well as new requirements, for YouTube's violation of COPPA. In response, the video site made major changes to how it treats kids videos, including limiting the data it collects from those views. 

"The truth is our kids lives are being dramatically shaped by social media and internet platforms."

Jim Steyer, Common Sense Media

The pushback from Congress on Thursday comes as lawmakers have drafted other legislation that deals with Silicon Valley's treatment of kids. 

In September, Castor introduced the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, in the House. This bill banned "auto-play" sessions on websites and apps geared for children and young teens. The legislation also banned push alerts targeting children and prohibited platforms from recommending or amplifying certain content involving sexual, violent, or other adult material, including gambling or "other dangerous, abusive, exploitative, or wholly commercial content." 

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, who asked Zuckerberg if his kids use Facebook products, has introduced the Big Tech Accountability Platform, which is a road map for how Republicans are approaching regulating the tech industry. While Republicans are still concerned about the censoring of conservative voices online, they also are concerned with how the big platforms use their algorithms "to drive addiction," as well as the role the companies play "in child grooming and trafficking."

"Remember, our kids -- the users -- are the product," McMorris said Thursday. "You -- Big Tech -- are not advocates for children. You exploit and profit off them."

---

Source

Tags:

• Big Tech S Danger To Kids Finally Aligns Democrats Red
• Big Tech S Danger To Kids Finally Aligns Democrats Color
• Big Tech S Danger To Kids Finally Aligns Spotify
• Big Tech S Danger To Kids Finally Asleep
• Big Te ch S Danger To Live By Electric Towers
• Big Tech S Danger Tourism
• Big Tech S Danger Mouse
• Big Tech Salary Comparison
• Big Tech Layoffs
• Big Tech Antitrust

Doj will sue google over ad tech business news doj will sue google over ad tech business books doj will sue google over ad tech business casual doj will sue google over ad tech crafter s tape doj will sue google over ad tech companies doj will sue google over adaptive meaning doj will sue google overstock doj will sue google overhead doj will sue google my business doj will sue bird doj sue arizona doj will charge trump

DOJ Will Sue Google Over Ad Tech Business in September, Report Says

DOJ Will Sue Google Over Ad Tech Business in September, Report Says

The US Department of Justice is preparing to sue Google over its dominance in the online advertising market, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. A lawsuit could be filed as soon as next month.

The Justice Department is engaged in a round of interviews with publishers to gather more information for its complaint, according to Bloomberg, which cited three unidentified sources. 

In 2020, the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google for its dominance in the search market and its alleged efforts to suppress competition in search. The lawsuit is still working its way through the legal system. 

"Our advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content and enable small businesses to reach customers around the world," Google representative Peter Schottenfels said in a statement. "The enormous competition in online advertising has made online ads more relevant, reduced ad tech fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers."

The expected lawsuit comes as Congress, the Justice Department, the EU and the UK move to rein in Big Tech. The US Senate introduced a bill called the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which would curb the influence of Amazon, Apple and Google in e-commerce marketplaces. The UK is planning to launch a new unit tasked with rooting out "predatory practices" of Big Tech. Last month, the EU approved the Digital Markets Act to regulate Apple, Google and Meta with the goal of allowing greater competition in e-commerce sales and apps. 

The Department of Justice declined to comment.  

Google has apparently tried to address the department's concerns to prevent the new lawsuit. The company reportedly told the DOJ last month that it was willing to split off its ad business. 

---

Source

Google to reportedly allow third party ad platforms online google to reportedly allow third party ad platforms on wheels google to reportedly allow third party administrators google to reportedly allow third party adapters google to reportedly allow third party administration google to reportedly allow me to reintroduce google to reportedly allow copy google tools

Google to Reportedly Allow Third-Party Ad Platforms on YouTube

Google to Reportedly Allow Third-Party Ad Platforms on YouTube

As regulators in Europe continue to crack down on Big Tech, Google will allow third-party ad platforms on YouTube in a possible attempt to settle an antitrust probe without paying a fine, according to a report from Reuters on Monday. 

The company's actions are reportedly linked to an ongoing antitrust investigation by the European Union into whether Google parent Alphabet, which also owns YouTube, gave itself an unfair advantage in digital advertising by restricting third-party ad platforms from gaining access to user data. The EU has said Google's demand that advertisers use Ad Manager and Display & Video 360, the company's ad exchange platform, restricted rivals in the types of ads served on YouTube. 

"We have been engaging constructively with the European Commission. We don't have anything further to share at this stage," Google spokesperson Allie Bodack said in a statement. "As with the Privacy Sandbox initiative, we are committed to working with regulators and the wider industry to achieve the best possible outcomes."

If Google is forced to pay the fine, it could reportedly be as high as 10% of its global turnover, or its total revenue. For such a company, 10% would be in the tens of billions of dollars. In 2021, Alphabet brought in $257 billion in revenue. In the first quarter of 2022 alone, the company reported $68 billion in sales thanks in large part to Google Search. 

The European Commission's investigation coincides with a 2020 antitrust lawsuit by the Department of Justice and a subsequent investigation over the company's ad tech business. Earlier this year, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority launched a second investigation into Google's ad tech practices and its dominance in online ad sales. 

It's part of the ongoing scrutiny that Big Tech is facing over potentially monopolistic practices. The US Senate is aiming to pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act before the midterm elections, legislation that would prevent Amazon, Apple and Google from giving their own platforms preferential treatment. If Democrats are unable to pass the bill this session, it's uncertain if Republicans were to take control of Congress that they would reintroduce the legislation. 

---

Source

Ftc drops mark zuckerberg as defendant in antitrust lawsuit pga ftc drops mark zuckerberg as defendant in antitrust lawsuit against facebook ftc drops mark zuckerberg as defendant in antitrust hearing ftc drops mark zuckerberg as defendant interrogatories ftc drops mark zuckerberg as defendant in tagalog ftc drops mark zuckerberg as defendant in small ftc drops mark zuckerberg wife ftc drops mark zuckerberg surfing ftc dropsy ftc drops for dry eyes

FTC Drops Mark Zuckerberg as Defendant in Antitrust Lawsuit

FTC Drops Mark Zuckerberg as Defendant in Antitrust Lawsuit

The Federal Trade Commission has removed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as a defendant in an antitrust lawsuit that aims to block the company's acquisition of virtual reality startup Within Unlimited.

The agency said in a filing in federal court that it had agreed to remove Zuckerberg as a defendant after the Facebook parent company's CEO agreed to not try to personally purchase Within Unlimited.

In July, the FTC filed a complaint with the US District Court for the Northern District of California to block Meta's acquisition of Within Unlimited, which makes a VR fitness app called Supernatural. The FTC argued that the acquisition, which was announced in October, would give Meta an illegally dominant position in the virtual reality market.

The Supernatural app and subscription service connect with a person's Apple Watch to track heart rate during workouts, much like Apple Fitness Plus. Supernatural uses video avatars of instructors in combination with motion-tracked workout routines. (Boxing was just added.) Supernatural sometimes feels like a ramped-up version of Meta's hit fitness VR music game Beat Saber. Meta acquired Beat Saber in 2019.

Virtual reality has become a prime focus for Zuckerberg. Last year, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, a nod to the social network's ambition to be a prime mover in the metaverse, a collective term for virtual worlds where people can work, play, socialize and spend money.

The FTC's lawsuit is part of a focus on antitrust in Big Tech under FTC Chairperson Lina Khan. Meta, which requested Zuckerberg's removal from the lawsuit, had previously argued that the FTC lawsuit was "based on ideology and speculation, not evidence."

A Meta spokesman declined to comment.

---

Source

Apple now allows apps in south korea to use third form apple now allows apps in south korea to use third conditionals apple now allows apps in south korea to us currency apple now allows apps installed apple now allows apps in google apple now allows apps evozi apple now allows apps stock apple now allows appsgeyser apple now allows communication apple now allows meaning apple now allows crossword fix apple now who runs apple now apple news who owns apple now

Apple Now Allows Apps in South Korea to Use Third-Party Payment Systems

---

Apple Now Allows Apps in South Korea to Use Third-Party Payment Systems

Apple said on Thursday that apps exclusively released in the South Korean App Store can use third-party payment systems to take in-app payment. The move comes after South Korea last year amended its Telecommunications Business Act, which banned app stores from forcing developers to use its first-party payment systems. Google complied with the law in November, and now Apple follows suit.  

The South Korean law clamps down on app stores in an effort to rein in tech giants, who've been called out for their monopoly over in-app payments. Apple, in particular, has been criticized for the commission it charges to use its payment system, which critics have dubbed the "Apple Tax." The tax gives Apple up to a 30% cut on subscriptions and in-app purchases. This has been the source of many developer complaints throughout the years. 

Though developers can request to use a third-party payment system for apps exclusively distributed in South Korea, Apple will still take a 26% commission for payments made through these systems. If an app is available globally, developers must create another version of the app for distribution solely on the App Store in South Korea. 

Apple warns that users will not have access to some App Store features if developers choose to go this route, including features like Ask to Buy and Family Sharing. Moreover, Apple won't be able to assist users with refunds, purchase history, subscription management and the like. Instead, developers will now be responsible for these features, and they must report all sales to Apple each month.

Both Apple and Google opposed the South Korean law, citing the benefits of its first-party system. Namely, both tech giants argued that allowing a third-party payment system undermines their users' safety and privacy on their app stores, increasing the risk of fraud. 

Lawmakers around the globe are looking to establish limits for big tech. The US Congress is working on a slate of bills aimed at antitrust and privacy that would change the way that tech giants do business. 

---

Source