From CNBC · Jonathan Vanian · · 3m
Tech giants sued over child safety while pushing AI into schools
Social media and AI companies face mounting lawsuits over harm to children even as they expand their products in classrooms.
In brief
Social media and AI companies face mounting lawsuits over harm to children even as they expand their products in classrooms. Tech companies including Snap, Meta and Google face child safety lawsuits while simultaneously pushing AI deeper into schools, raising questions about product design priorities. Originally…
Tech companies face child safety crisis
Social media companies are dealing with more child safety lawsuits at the same time the industry is pushing AI deeper into classrooms.
Snap settles before trial
Snap confidentially settled a case claiming its technology caused severe psychological distress to two teenage users, avoiding a scheduled Los Angeles trial.
Other platforms already settled
Meta, TikTok and YouTube previously settled with the same plaintiffs in the same suit. Google was sued this week by parents of a child who suffered psychological crisis after chatting with Gemini AI.
Expert calls for design changes
Developmental psychologist Kate Blocker said products need broader systemic changes in tech design, particularly when children are using them.
“broader systemic changes in tech design, particularly when children are using them”
Safety must come first, not after
Blocker stressed that children's safety must be considered when products are designed, not after problems emerge. AI and social media companies should prioritize this from the start.
“I think it's so so important that children's safety is being considered when these products, AI, social media, et cetera, are being designed, and not after the fact as these problems emerge”
Snap avoids public scrutiny
Snap's settlement spared CEO Evan Spiegel from testifying in court, continuing a trend of tech companies attempting to shield themselves from public scrutiny due to high-profile child safety trials.
Google integrates AI despite risks
Google told the New York Times that search and AI are deeply integrated. The company hastily integrated Gemini into Chromebook computers for school children despite known risks, plaintiffs allege.
“Search and AI are deeply integrated”
Section 230 shields tech companies
Passed in nineteen ninety-six, Section two thirty has protected social media companies from being sued over content posted by users. Plaintiffs focus on alleged harms from platform design instead.
AI companies face similar litigation
OpenAI faces several lawsuits from state attorneys general and plaintiff attorneys alleging that ChatGPT's design poses risks to children. Anthropic highlighted litigation risks in its prospectus ahead of going public.
Litigation signals growing legal risk
Michele Neitz, professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, said this is a clear indication that tech companies anticipate more litigation risks than they did a decade ago.
Litigation could drive systemic change
Blocker said collective litigation has educated the public on pitfalls of poor product design and could be a catalyzing force for change in tech industry regulation and company decision-making.
“Certainly there's a hope that this will motivate real systemic change, both from a regulation standpoint and internal company decision-making standpoint”
The headline
Tech companies including Snap, Meta and Google face child safety lawsuits while simultaneously pushing AI deeper into schools, raising questions about product design priorities.
