Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter have been accused of endangering children online and contravening the UK’s Children’s Code, in a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Analysis by children’s digital rights charity 5Rights claim these and other tech companies use cunning design features to nudge children into sharing their locations or receive personalised advertising. The companies also allegedly make it too easy for children to fall into inappropriate actions such as engaging in video chats with strangers.
Baroness Beeban Kidron, chair of 5Rights, referenced the research in a complaint submitted to the ICO, which was first reported by the FT.
The Children’s Code, officially called the Age Appropriate Design Code, came into force in August and carries potential fines of up to 4% of global turnover for companies that do not comply.
Kidron said: “We believe every single thing we put forward here, all the pages of this report, contravene the first standard of the code, which is: it is not in the best interests of the child.”
Today the ICO’s (@ICOnews) Age Appropriate design code comes into force in the UK. It’s a landmark piece of regulation: the first Code of practice for kids’ data anywhere in the world, and platforms are already responding.
???? on what it means for children and tech 1/11 pic.twitter.com/sQfxLiu5Wb
— 5Rights Foundation (@5RightsFound) September 2, 2021
The ICO complaint comes in the same week that UK telecoms regulator Ofcom issued new rules on video sharing apps like Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP)’s Snapchat and ByteDance’s TikTok to protect users under 18 from potentially harmful material, and all users from hate speech, incitement to violence and content constituting criminal offences.
Platforms found to have breached their obligations to protect users could be fined up to 5% of and in the most serious cases could be suspended or restricted in the UK.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), which owns Instagram, has already been accused this week in Congress by whistleblower Frances Haugen of owning products that “harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy” and put profit over moral responsibility.
Last month, Instagram was criticised for its secret research into the effect social media had on teenager users, with the Wall Street Journal revealing Mark Zuckerberg's company had found in studies that teenagers blamed Instagram for increased levels of anxiety and depression, with Instagram acknowledging that "we makes body-image issues worse for one in three teenage girls".