ADD YOUR NAME: Tell Meta to put kids over profits
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta
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Kids and teens are dying from social media – from suicide following brutal sextortion or bullying, dangerous viral challenges, declining mental health, eating disorders sparked by filtered images, fentanyl-laced pills bought online, and more. Yet companies like Meta profit, while American families pay the price. Meta is the richest social media company in the world, and is spending billions of dollars in an attempt to convince the world that its platform is safe for young people, but we’ve seen the reality.
According to Meta’s own internal research, 1 in 8 kids reported experiencing unwanted sexual advances on Instagram in the last seven days. 1 in 4 reported being discriminated against because of their gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, or another part of their identity in the last week. Meta even refused to extend life-saving sextortion prevention features like blocking messages from strangers to older teens, even as they were dying from suicide following abuse on Instagram. Meta continues to prioritize their revenue – $164 billion last year alone – over kids’ safety and wellbeing.
We refuse to pay the price of their neglect any longer. No more false promises – we demand Meta act now to protect all young users of its platforms. Tell Meta: put kids over profits.
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To:
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,
As concerned parents, young people, and experts, we write to express our deep concern regarding the safety of children and teens on Instagram and other Meta platforms. Despite earning $164 billion last year, Meta continues to neglect its responsibility to protect young users from harm. The time to act is now.
We are demanding that Meta commit to the following demands:
1. Stop Promoting Dangerous Content to Kids: End the algorithmic promotion of dangerous content to children under 18, including explicit and sexualizing content, racism and hate speech, content promoting disordered eating or self-harm, dangerous viral challenges, and content promoting drugs and alcohol.
2. Prevent Sexual Predators and Other Bad Actors from Using Meta Platforms to Abuse Kids: Implement measures to prevent nefarious actors including sexual predators, sextortionists, and drug dealers from finding, meeting, and grooming children and teens across all Meta platforms. Start by purging known problematic adult accounts and not connecting them to kids, and upholding firewalls to prevent unknown adults from communicating with young users through direct messages.
3. Provide Transparent, Fast Resolutions to Kids’ Reports of Problematic Content or Interactions: Create fast, responsive reporting and feedback procedures, including things like telling kids how their report was resolved, removing illegal or harmful material and banning harmful accounts quickly, and detecting and nudging kids during potentially unsafe conversations.
We urge you to prioritize the safety and well-being of your youngest users. Failing to act will not only endanger children but will also prove harmful to your business. A recent global study revealed that most people want harmful social media content to be restricted. Many families are beginning to bring lawsuits forward for Meta’s negligent practices.
In conclusion, we demand that Meta take decisive action to protect the most vulnerable users of your platforms. We will not relent until all children can have safe online experiences.
Sincerely,
Design It For Us
Heat Initiative
ParentsTogether Action