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Leaked Documents Reveal Facebook is Targeting Children as Young as 6 (nbcnews.com) 84

"Internal documents show that Facebook has been actively hiring employees to build products that target children as young as 6 to expand its user base," reports NBC News — apparently within just the last six months.

"Our company is making a major investment..." begins an internal Facebook blog post seen by NBC. The blog post announces that the company was dedicating a team "to make safer, more private, experiences for youth..." It goes on to point out this marked a new direction for Facebook, since "For many of our products, we historically haven't designed for under 13."

Further down the post adds that "Our work prioritizes the best interests of the child..." Diagrams illustrate proposed new target age groups, ranging from kids 6 to 9 years old and tweens 10 to 12 years old — along with existing targets of early teens from 13 to 15 years old, late teens from 16 to 17 years old, and adults... Critics of the company say these documents are part of a long-standing pattern of Facebook attempting to attract younger users as early as possible.

"Facebook and Instagram have repeatedly shown that they simply can't be trusted when it comes to the well-being of children and teens," said James Steyer, the founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that researches the relationship between children and the digital world. "They need to focus on cleaning up their existing platforms instead of trying to hook more children to their addictive platforms at younger and younger ages...."

The post came just one week before a coalition of 35 organizations and 64 individual experts, coordinated by Fairplay, formerly known as the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a Boston-based nonprofit, raised concerns about privacy, screen time, mental health, self-esteem and commercial pressure in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

"These documents make clear that instead of working to make its existing platforms less harmful to teens, Facebook's priority was to ensnare younger children and create a pipeline of lifetime users of Facebook products," Fairplay's executive director Josh Golin told NBC News. "Despite Facebook's claims that their motivation for Instagram for Kids is to create a safer experience for preteens, it's clear the real reason is Facebook is fixated on kids to drive growth. Facebook products aren't safe for younger children, and a company that consistently puts profits ahead of young people's well-being has no business building platforms for kids."

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Leaked Documents Reveal Facebook is Targeting Children as Young as 6

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  • by hdyoung ( 5182939 ) on Sunday October 31, 2021 @06:08PM (#61945639)
    Will last right up until they get the data showing that lolita-themed kids content sells LOTS of ads. People will realize it in 4 years, Facebook I mean Meta, haha no I couldnt say it with a straight face, will spend 2 years denying it, a leaked document will kick off 3 years of journalism and congressional investigations, and we might see something done about it, oh, sometime around 2032.

    Yes, Im old and cynical. Get off my lawn.
  • At least Gavin Belson realised this was a bad thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] It seems Zuckerberg couldn't see anything wrong with it. Where one asshole sees a liability another even bigger one sees an opportunity.
  • I'm not here to say anything nice about Facebook. That would be silly.

    Nonetheless, "the enemy of my enemy is not my friend". This guy sounds like the usual self-promoting hyper-righteous scuzzbag looking to make some rep and hot profit on the "more decent than thou" circuit.

    • This is not save the children BS, this is predatory org. This is not porn of kidz, this completely different.

      Thinks of cigarettes, get them while they are young, duffus.
    • "I'm not here to say anything nice about Facebook. That would be silly."

      "I come to bury Facebook, not to praise it"

      Marc Anthony

    • Normally that "save the children" call is often tied to misinformation as well. Such as Stranger Danger, and Razor blades in candy apples, and children are told to go to an adult they trust, like a Parent. While most children are not harmed by the Stranger, however most are harmed by a Trusted Adult, such as their Parents, or prominent adults in their lives Like a Boy Scout Leader, Coach, Teacher, Priest, and many of these people were backed up by large institutions and public support, that makes these p

  • The Democrats are targeting kids in preschool with gender craziness and race consciousness.

    By the time Facebook gets them, they won't need any radicalization to make them into nutters.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      Arg!!!! You're supposed to keep that a secret!!! We crazy libs have a whole playbook for radicalizing 3 and 4 year olds with picture books containing images of diverse people playing together with bunnies and chickens, sharing snacks together and having a group sing-alone with Woody Guthrie songs. By the time they get to kindergarten and first grade, they'll be fully indoctrinated into being able to identify a racist when they hear them talk. Thanks for letting the cat of of the bag.
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Funny thing, while the kids here in the US are trying to figure out their gender, other countries like China and Russia are training the next generation to be leaders, solders, and winners. You can whine on Facebook how you block people who don't echo you 100%, but while people fight over the piece of the pie, they don't realize the entire pie is getting smaller and smaller, and had they focused on creating more of the pie by not bashing each other, they might not have to try to pay a $3000/month rent paym

    • The Democrats are targeting kids in preschool with gender craziness and race consciousness.

      By the time Facebook gets them, they won't need any radicalization to make them into nutters.

      Yeah it'll be a horrible world if kids don't grow up to be racist sexist fucks like the adults. Can you imagine a world without RightwingNutjobs? Well... no I don't suppose you specifically could.

  • They're just trying to get into that sick, sick Thottok/Trashtube money.

  • by nerdonamotorcycle ( 710980 ) on Sunday October 31, 2021 @06:31PM (#61945677)
    Seriously, this reminds me of the behavior of tobacco companies.
    • Well, Facebook has oculus and it’s very popular with that demographic.. market research and targeting just makes sense.. no one would think twice if Sony or Microsoft did the same research, which they probably have why do you think they have products specifically catering to that demographic?
      • Found the Facebook shill.
        • Oh right, I forgot there is hysteria Facebook bad, all bad , doesn’t compare to other players on the market. *beats his chest for approval from the rest of the troglodytes tribe*
      • by Z80a ( 971949 )

        Sony and microsoft seems to have a complete aversion to games for actual kids.
        It's like they're annoying teens that prefer to get irrelevant to the next generation than doing what hollywood does and cater for all ages.

        • Huh? You clearly don’t have children that share the use of the systems.. filter by kids and family and you’ll get 350+ games.. anything from pepper pig onwards.. Xbox isn’t any better.. it’s so normal most people are blind to it unless you have reason to notice..
    • Like cigarette companies had a brand of candy called 'Fags' so children could hold a candy cigarette in their mouths from an early age. Feeding addiction and social norming early. Anyone can get rich with legalized addiction product. Still waiting for nicotine laced water and flavored milk to hit the shelves.
      • I remember chewing gum made to look like cigarettes, each piece was wrapped in cigarette-like colors and shape, and the whole pack came in a strikingly-similar cigarette pack looking wrap.
        Here's an example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chewi... [amazon.co.uk]

      • Oh the classic Popeye cigarettes, loved those as kid!
      • Kids want to do what the people they admire in their lives do. Tobacco and candy companies certainly hold some responsibility, but maybe parents and adults in general should take a look at the examples they're setting, too.

    • I was more reminded of a speech of Hitler how they got the kids early in various organizations, ending in "and they won't be free again for the rest of their life".

      But even the Nazis waited 'til the kids were 10.

  • by Flownez ( 589611 ) on Sunday October 31, 2021 @07:36PM (#61945777)
    The implications of this kind of technology on 'Nurture' driven personality development worries me greatly.

    The ability to frame reality and sensitise kids to drive 'desirable' behaviours will almost certainly be abused at some point. The seemingly increasing trend of corporations and state entities ambitions to influence formation of children's ethics and personality is worrying for me, and I don't have kids. The anxiety this must produce in parents and prospective parents looking towards the future must be significant.
    • Yeah, well, most parents don't realize it, or don't give a rat's ass.

      • by Teun ( 17872 )
        A lot of parents are themselves addicted to Facebook, they are feeding the monster.
    • The ability to frame reality and sensitise kids to drive 'desirable' behaviours will almost certainly be abused at some point.

      I wonder if it would be abused in a worse or better way than the way "parents" are abusing their role to drive "desirable" behaviours.

    • by nucrash ( 549705 )

      As a parent of a teenage girl. Facebook(Meta) and other companies frustrate me to no end. I will likely have to start blocking them at my household, but I have be to selective due to my wife's usage of the website.

  • by sethmeisterg ( 603174 ) on Sunday October 31, 2021 @07:58PM (#61945811)
    That way they can be smack addicts when they hit adolesence!
  • by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Sunday October 31, 2021 @08:00PM (#61945821) Journal
    Just end this shit.
    • https://www.bbc.com/news/world... [bbc.com]

      It's official, facebook, aka meta, is dead.

      Funny thing, I would expect Mark Zuckerberg to be familiar with what meta means in Nebrew.

    • No thanks. Instead, pass laws and regulate. Regardless of what you *think* society doesn't exist on primitive vigilante justice. You want to jail a guy, pass a law for him to break.

      If we were to jail people for just being arseholes I'm sure there would be plenty of people who'd line up to see you behind bars too (as well as me).

  • by jimbrooking ( 1909170 ) on Sunday October 31, 2021 @08:22PM (#61945881)

    A rose by any other name smells like a steaming pile.

  • Did anyone think they weren't doing this?

    They track everyone.

  • by Anonymous Coward
    I very much dislike FaceBook, but I despise this pro-censorship campaign coming out of the establishment even more so. If they get their way, the tyrants in Washington will give themselves the excuse/ability to censor ALL dissenting internet voices.

    This is ALL about control and censorship and it's being served up as if it's about saving the children or some other Trojan.

    The reason they're targeting FaceBook, is because it gives the majority of people a voice. This is a bad thing, because the majorit
  • I don't consume FB, nor do I allow my children to do so. Be a responsible parent and take an interest in what you allow your children to consume.

    Best,

    • Finally, some common sense on /.
    • Sadly, they can. Even without an account with them, you do have a profile. Yes, they have less information about you, but they still try to collect information about you. Any picture you're in that one of your friend posts will be analyzed and there will be a profile about "person 19845752", waiting for the moment when they can actually pinpoint a name to it. Usually when your friend starts tagging those pictures and hands them a name.

      You'd be surprised how easy that actually is.

    • by dryeo ( 100693 )

      How do you stop your children from using Facebook when they go out? It's like stopping your children from smoking back in the day when it was popular and pushed at them, they usually find a way.

  • Old news now (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Sunday October 31, 2021 @11:24PM (#61946153)

    Young people stopped using facebook years ago. It's mostly boomers and middle aged people at this point. If you think children are going to flock back to facebook then MySpace would like a word with you.

    • Young people stopped using facebook years ago.

      A cool meme, but sadly all that it is. There are plenty of young people on facebook.

      It's mostly boomers and middle aged people at this point

      The world is mostly boomers and middle aged people at this point... You described the current two largest generations.

  • So did and does religion. So does the woke crowd now. So did McDonald's with their mini playgrounds.

    What was the issue?

    • That being a cancer (sorry, MetaStasizing cancer) to society doesn't become benign just because everyone is just as bad.

  • All organizations, businesses, governments, churches, drug dealers, health providers, food producers, educators, etc. etc. "target" children. They have a product that some people find worth paying for, or an ideal that people find useful, or an essential that people need, so the organizations want to make it available to as many people as they can. That may be for money, for idealism, for criminal advantage, whatever. Selling stuff to children isn't in itself wrong.

    I don't use Facebook, as I consider it

  • What's the problem? They still have to abide by laws in many countries before they can deploy it for those children. It's not like other companies like Disney or Nintendo aren't targeting those young children, or other game developers or services, and yes, a lot of those do exactly the same behind the scenes as Facebook does, creating data about the children.
  • Aren't verbs fun? "Market to" doesn't sound nearly as scary.

    Call me when Facebook can send yellow buses around to round up all the 6 year olds and put them in all day indoctrination centers. They are mere pikers at "targeting" at this point.

  • Capitalism with it's only goal "profit" is the underlying culprit. It's the reason cigarette companies lie about the effects of nicotine while purposely making a more addictive product targeting kids, it's the reason oil executives lie about climate change, it's the reason venture capital buys up pharmaceutical companies and jack up the price of needed life saving drugs by 10x or 1000x, it's the reason millions of jobs have been sent over seas decimating working class communities.. We've entered an era unp
  • To set the clocks on regular Facebook user's VCRs
  • Joe Camel is really cool kids!

  • I did. Looks pretty reasonable. Kids are on the platform whether they like it or not. Should they continue to bury their head in the sand w/respect to the age prompt and COPPA?

  • Didn't Facebook just change its name to Bum Buddy ?

  • It's parents' problem, not Facebook's. You teach your kids that FB is shit and to stay away from it. Problem solved.

    But then there's TikTok... Internet is so different from what it used to be, and it used to be highly educative, not much shallow fun to be found. Yes, I'm not 25 any more.

  • Anything that is leaked or hacked is automatically false by default, because it was obtained or revealed based on dishonesty in acquiring it, therefore making the leaker as a provider of information dishonest, and therefore could also just as well be forged/faked. This is why evidence obtained in court is inadmissible, even if it proves a defendant guilty, because it was obtained illegally to begin with and destroys the honesty of the witness/evidence.

Nobody said computers were going to be polite.

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