CNBC reports:

Tech companies have spent years telling parents they’re working to make their products safer for children. But ongoing jury trials, settlements and related litigation against the likes of Meta, Google and Snap suggest that they’re not doing enough.

The latest examples landed this week. Snap confidentially settled a case claiming that its technology caused severe psychological distress to two teenage users. Meta, TikTok and YouTube previously settled with the plaintiffs in the same suit. And Google was sued this week by the parents of a child who allegedly suffered a psychological crisis after chatting with the Gemini AI chatbot in Google Classroom.

Concern is intensifying as artificial intelligence companies pursue trillion-dollar valuations, and established internet giants pour money into developing advanced AI models while pushing them into the classroom. Products and features intended to maximize engagement can have detrimental effects on users, thus warranting “broader systemic changes in tech design, particularly when children are using them,” said developmental psychologist Kate Blocker.

“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,” said Blocker, the director of research and programs for the nonprofit Children and Screens.

Snap’s settlement this week, which spared CEO Evan Spiegel from testifying in a Los Angeles court, continues a general trend of tech companies attempting to shield themselves from public scrutiny due to the various high-profile child-safety related trials this year, said Joseph McNally, the director of emerging litigation at McNicholas & McNicholas.

The case was one of several lawsuits related to the social media personal injury trial that Meta and YouTube lost earlier this year. More trials are slated to commence in March. [Continue reading…]