The headline in an Axios exclusive: “US Majority supports tech regulation to preserve democracy.”
Seventy-eight percent of Americans believe consumers should have to “opt in” before their personal data is shared.” Seventy-five percent said they support prohibiting companies from collecting personal data on anybody 16 years or under.”
Axios, taking a deeper dive on children’s online patterns, headlined another story: “Online betting comes for kids.” A professor of psychiatry at McGill University in Canada, Jeff Derevensky, observes: “Gambling has become normalized in our society.”
There is with gambling, as with most online offerings, a free and easy way to get started; it is called social gambling. “Of the 1,132 “social casino” games analyzed, nearly 98% had an age rating of 12+ or older.” The NFL and Nickelodeon have collaborated on a kid’s site, NFL Nick Play, that lets them pick winners and losers in NFL games and earn points for picking correctly.
My life has served up some strange angles. At the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), finishing up in 1993, content questions focused on TV and radio “indecent broadcasting” allegations. 1993 was 29 years ago; in Internet generations that was over 12 generations ago. And yes, it was a simpler time. Today it is often teens sexualizing teens as TikTok and Instagram among other sites, disclose sexualized postings gain more attention.
But let’s go back to gambling: 1,132 social casino games analyzed! I wonder how many they missed? And my guess is that the social media sites are heavily populated with mind-bending visual and aural stimuli. As noted, TikTok users begin or revert to sexualized material to get likes.
It is mind-bending to think of being a parent in what can turn out to be a short or long-term identity warping era. I revert to parent because I learned up-close the limits of government. It lead me to write a book entitled “Culture Leads Leaders Follow”. It might today be called “Culture Leads Parents Scramble”. Parenting is not easy in the best of times. But now, well go into public places and assess the percent of young people (and adults) peering at phone screens.
So let me wrap this up with an idea. The last march to pressure Washington on abortion rights was on January 21, 2022 by pro-life organizations; on October 2, 2021 organizations marched for reproductive rights. What about child development rights? What America needs are some family marches—parents talking back. Big Tech and Congress getting an earful. (Bipartisan legislation is beginning to move in the Senate.)
Today families are in troubled waters. As they juggle a wide range of parenting challenges, they might find it helpful to know what children are doing on-line. Knowledge is, or at least can be, power. Yet many of the online companies that lure children know more about the children than their parents do.
If I was a parent of a child sixteen years or younger, these are some things I would want to know. Which sites are the most popular with children? What are the most popular uses? Which are trending? What do they offer? Do they collect user data? If so, what do they do with it? Do they sell user data and if so to whom and for what purpose?
I would also want to know about site reviews and studies and what findings, if any, pertain to children. Undoubtedly legal boundaries need to be established, but at the same time parents need to know—legal boundaries can go only so far.
The world of child development will always be a challenge, but parents can be helped. Give parents the tools to do so.
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
Barbara Foster says
Intriguing analysis Al !! Gracias 🤗
Forster says
Right on !! Thanks, Al 🥰