Exposure to educational television has been shown to have positive effects on the social, intellectual, and educational development of children. Is it possible to find truly educational content on broadcast television? Articles below deal with 1) television broadcasters' obligation to provide educational programming for children, 2) efforts to shield children from indecenct programming, 3) advertising aimed at children and 4) children and violence.
Children and Media
Google and YouTube Will Pay Record $170 Million for Alleged Violations of Children’s Privacy Law
Google and its subsidiary YouTube will pay a record $170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General that the YouTube video sharing service illegally collected personal information from children without their parents’ consent.
A Preview of the FCC's July Open Meeting: Taking the "E" Out of EBS and TV
Perhaps the biggest news of the week was the agenda for the Federal Communications Commission's July 10 Open Meeting, which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai laid out in a blog post on June 18, 2019. I'm traveling to New York this week; below is a shorter-than-usual weekly that takes a look at how Chairman Pai plans to take education out of the Educational Broadband Service -- and broadcast television.
Sen. Rick Scott Introduces Legislation to Hold Big Tech Accountable, Keep Teens Safe
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) reintroduced the Safe Social Media Act and the Data Algorithm and Transparency Agreement (DATA) Act to hold Big Tech companies accountable for the malicious content spread on their platforms and help keep teens safe while using social media. The Safe Social Media Act requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in coordination with the CDC, to conduct a study on the effects of social media use among American teenagers and children. If signed into law, this bill will:
Rep. Lori Trahan Blasts Gaming Companies for Failing to Adequately Address Rising Extremism
Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA), a member of the House Commerce Committee’s Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee released summaries of gaming company responses to a December 2022 request fr
FCC Announces Over $20 Million in Emergency Connectivity Funding
The Federal Communications Commission committed over $20 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECP), which provides digital services for students in communities across the country. This funding commitments support applications from all three filing windows benefiting approximately 190,000 students across the country, including students in California, Florida, Maine, Oklahoma, Washington, and Wisconsin. This commitment will support over 90 schools, 8 libraries, and 5 consortia.
Durbin (D-IL), Blumenthal (D-CT), Hirono (D-HI) Introduce Bill To Protect Children's Online Privacy
As the collection of personal information by internet companies is encroaching more and more on the privacy of every American, US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and US Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) introduced legislation to strengthen online privacy protections for children when websites collect their personally identifiable information.
The Power of Big Tech Over American Democracy
I want to share some broad observations about the Internet’s dominance—and in particular, the dominance of the biggest digital platforms—over our economy, our society, and our democracy. It’s easy to forget how different the world was just 20 years ago. At the time, General Motors topped the Fortune 500 list. Apple was 285 on that list, and Amazon didn’t even make the cut. Twitter was still an idea somewhere in the recesses of Jack Dorsey’s head.
Rep. Stewart (R-UT) Introduces Social Media Ban for Kids Under the Age of 16
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) introduced the Social Media Child Protection Act (H.R.821), which would make it unlawful for social media platforms to provide access to children under the age of 16. The rates of teen and adolescent depression, anxiety, and suicide have risen at unprecedented levels since the emergence of social media. The Social Media Child Protection Act makes it unlawful for social media platforms to provide access to children under the age of 16. It also does the following: