OPINION: Meta Knew Social Media Was Hurting Kids

So, parents, teachers, lawmakers, this is your wake up call. Tech giants are not babysitters. In fact, they are poor babysitters. The creeps have come inside the house.

Social media hurts children and the companies damn well knew it. They know it. And they’ve been found out.

Watch this. This should worry every parent

Social media platforms, Meta and YouTube, have just been hammered in the US courts, effectively preying on children and knowingly putting them in harm’s way. These are landmark decisions, and all the evidence that we need here to hurry up and pass the social media ban for under-16-year-olds.

It is so timely.

At the same time, the government has today confirmed the NCEA changes, saying that school is about to get harder and more focused for Years 11, 12, and 13. This is so overdue, and the current NCEA scheme has been hopelessly designed, as they’ve said.

There’ll be compulsory subjects, and the Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, wants science as well to be compulsory alongside English and maths.

Okay, so it’s confirmed. Social media is hurting our kids. It’s now official, and there’s a court ruling. In fact, there are actually two court rulings. This is out of the US courts.

These are landmark cases that should make the social media companies freeze on the spot and look in the mirror, because there’ll be more to come, and they’ve just been exposed.

And they’re guilty. They’ve been found out big time in the US courts. There are two cases. I’ll go through both of them.

These two court cases have just shattered the tech giants’ claims of their own innocence, and it should make every parent sit up and pay attention.

Firstly, in New Mexico, Meta has been found guilty of misleading or profiteering from harmful behaviour towards young kids. This is all sorts of exploitation that’s gone on.

Seven weeks. A courtroom packed with evidence. Massive jury verdict.

Meta Platforms Inc knowingly harmed children on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. They misled parents. They misled kids. And they let predators run wild.

They pushed features designed to hook young brains, and now face $375 million in civil penalties, the maximum allowed under state law in America. It’s huge.

Massive internal documents, whistleblower testimonies, and undercover investigations. It all showed that Meta knew that children were at risk, and they continued anyway.They knew they were putting these kids in harm’s way, and they did nothing to stop it.

This wasn’t accidental. This wasn’t small. This was deliberate negligence on behalf of these social media platforms. Profit over safety.

And the law said enough.

Too much sexual content. Don’t worry about it. Leave it there. And the companies did. They left it there, knowing it was harming kids all the time.

Then there was the Los Angeles case focusing on addiction and negligence.

The plaintiff’s name is KGM. She’s now 20. She told the court she was addicted to Instagram and YouTube from age six, and it worsened her depression, anxiety, and isolation.

And you might say, well, she should be personally responsible, that she couldn’t get away from it. It’s an addiction.

The jury didn’t hesitate. Meta and YouTube were found negligent, and the platform design was dangerous for minors.

Meta carries 70 per cent of the responsibility. YouTube got 30 per cent of it.

So $3 million in damages for YouTube, and punitive damages are coming because the jury found malice as well.

The message is brutal. Social media hurts children, and the companies damn well knew it. They know it. And they’ve been found out.

Why this matters for New Zealand, I think, is obvious.

Here’s the stark reality. The US courts are reacting after the damage is done. New Zealand is acting before harm takes over, although it probably has in some instances.

Blocking under sixteens from social media isn’t nanny state. It’s prevention. And it is health and safety.

Addiction, anxiety, depression. It’s all now being proven in the courts in America. Exploitation, harmful content, predators running free. Meta’s own documents show it as well.

Platform design itself can be dangerous. The algorithms themselves are found to prey on these kids.

New Zealanders need to get in line before it’s too late. Hopefully. For some, it might already be too late.

Far too many kids have already gone down the rabbit hole and never leave their bedroom. We’ve already lost them, I reckon.

So, parents, teachers, lawmakers, this is your wake-up call. Tech giants are not babysitters. In fact, they are poor babysitters. The creeps have come inside the house.

Profit cannot come at the expense of children. This is what’s been said in the courts.

Meta and YouTube will appeal. They always do.

But the message is really clear. Design platforms for kids without safeguards, and that’s legally and morally indefensible.

You can’t defend it for too long.

These companies have almost sat above the law and said, catch us if you can. Well, now it’s backfired. They have been well and truly caught.

In New Zealand, we’re not waiting for lawsuits to pile up. We are changing the law this year. It’ll pass before the election, as Stanford has said. That’s their hope.

Those who say it’s a nanny state and too heavy have no idea, or simply don’t have kids. As simple as that.

A blunt tool sometimes needs to be met by an equally blunt tool. You can’t go easy on these people because they will run rings around you. This is about survival. Mental, emotional, and social.

Our kids deserve better. Our country knows it, and we’re acting before the harm becomes a crisis.

It’s right to say damage has already occurred here, in my view. Let’s hope it’s limited, and at least there’s a plan of action to get out of this.