Meta and Google fund US kids’ groups, as critics warn of social media risk

By Courtney Rozen

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) – Meta and Google enlisted trusted children’s brands such as Sesame Street, Girl Scouts and Highlights magazine to teach kids to use technology in moderation – even as the companies designed apps that made it difficult for those same young users to unplug, public statements and internal documents show.

Backed by tens of millions of dollars from the tech giants, these organizations delivered lessons about personal responsibility to hundreds of thousands of children and parents, using colorful ‌magazines, popular characters and catchy songs, according to public statements.

Alphabet’s Google and Meta’s sponsorships of those lessons are fueling criticism that the companies are finding new ways to encourage kids to become dependent on social media, particularly by partnering with brands aimed at ‌children younger than 12, an age pediatricians say is often too young for smartphone ownership.

The partnerships also weaken trust in decades-old…