By Reuters
WASHINGTON — 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 colourful magazines, popular characters and catchy songs, according to public statements.
Alphabet’s Google and Meta’s sponsorships of those lessons are fuelling 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 paediatricians say is often too young for smartphone ownership.
The partnerships also weaken trust in decades-old institutions families have relied on for advice on raising kids, parent advocates said, at a time when the tech giants are facing down multiple lawsuits accusing them of designing addictive products that harmed youth mental health.
The first case to reach trial ended with a $6 million judgment against the two companies.
“It’s like Sesame Street teaming up with Philip Morris to teach kids how to smoke cigarettes safely,” said Rose Bronstein, whose 15-year-old son died by suicide after he was bullied online. “How is it any different?”
Meta and Google’s properties generate billions of dollars in advertising revenue from businesses marketing to minors. That economic incentive, critics say, makes it difficult for the companies to offer unbiased guidance on screen use.
“Their very business model relies on maximum time on device,” said Emily Boddy, co-lead of US Smartphone Free Childhood, a parent group that advocates against phones in schools. “Their guidance or advice can’t be neutral, and we see that it’s not.”
Corporations, ranging from soda companies to the tobacco industry, have long made donations to “trusted institutions” to improve their reputations, said Nora Kenworthy, a public health researcher at the University of Washington Bothell.
“It’s very much a reputation management strategy,” Kenworthy said.
Sponsorships extend across several brands
Reuters reviewed thousands of pages of company documents made public through lawsuits, along with company-sponsored educational videos and lessons.
The documents reveal that Meta’s strategy to partner with outside groups to promote positive messages about technology began several years ago as criticism of the apps started to proliferate.
In a 2018 draft document, internal user experience researchers deliberated how to respond to accusations that social media companies were “designing addictive products that can harm well‑being.”
Researchers proposed asking external experts to identify Facebook features that could have a negative effect on users over time.
Among their list of ideas, they wrote: “Form an alliance where the third party can vouch for the thoroughness and relevance of our approach for targeting the ‘addiction’ claims.” In a statement to Reuters, Meta said it did not act on that idea.
The companies did establish relationships with numerous brands. Google sponsored Sesame Street, Highlights and Girl Scouts. Meta also sponsored Girl Scouts.
Some of the materials promoted by Meta and Google do include digital safety instructions, children’s media researchers said, including reminders to set strong passwords and avoid scams.
The companies declined to say what they paid these organizations. But in a 2024 statement, Google pledged to spend at least $20 million supporting groups that promote “digital well-being,” including Highlights Magazine and Sesame Workshop.
“We prioritize the well-being of our youngest users by building industry-leading safeguards and putting families in charge of their digital experiences — any suggestion otherwise is simply wrong,” a Google spokesperson told Reuters.
Sesame Workshop said Google had no control over its digital well-being educational materials, adding in a statement that Google executives gave advice “prior to the start of content development.” Child development researchers, parents and caregivers weighed in on the materials themselves, Sesame said.
Meta said in a statement it had a limited role in designing the Girl Scout materials, but said it was proud of its work with experts in online safety. The company often works with academics to study negative use of the platform, a spokesperson said.
Highlights Magazine declined to answer specific questions about its Google partnership. Spokesperson Melanie Bay said the magazine designs products to help kids “make thoughtful choices.”
Merit badges for using tech
The Girl Scouts’ digital safety curriculum, sponsored by Meta’s Instagram, requires that girls complete age-specific lessons to earn a “digital leadership” badge.
One part of the curriculum aimed at middle-school-aged scouts instructs girls to track their screen time. Girls are then challenged to “create digital content to support a topic” they care about.
Last year, Google began sponsoring its own Girl Scouts patch, called the “Be Internet Awesome Fun Patch,” tied to the company’s digital literacy curriculum. Girls learn about being kind online, using strong passwords, and keeping personal information private.
The patch, available on the Girl Scouts website, features its logo, as well as Google’s.
“It’s almost priming them to desire to get on social media once they reach the minimum age,” said Brendesha Tynes, a children’s media researcher at the University of Southern California.
Girl Scouts did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Smartphone sleeping bags
Google also paid Highlights magazine at least $5 million. A 2024 special edition sponsored by Google includes instructions on how to make a “sleeping bag” to store devices overnight.
“Before you shut down for the night, put your device to bed,” the magazine says.
The activity makes it appear normal for Highlights readers — who range in age from six to 12 — to have smartphones at that age, seven parents who advocate for tech restrictions told Reuters after reviewing the magazine.
Google provided an extra 250,000 copies of the special Highlights edition to organizations such as Save the Children and Reading is Fundamental.
In a statement, a Google spokesperson said the company’s internet safety curriculum is “accredited and reputable,” adding that Google worked with safety organizations to design it.
One of those organizations is the Family Online Safety Institute, a non-profit that receives the majority of its revenue from tech companies, including Google. Meta is not a member.
The institute said in a statement that they reviewed the curriculum before launch.
Some consequences addressed
The lessons sponsored by Google and Meta addressed some of the apps’ effects on kids, four children’s media researchers and paediatricians told Reuters.
Meta’s sponsored Girl Scouts curriculum for middle schoolers addresses how companies take user data to sell products or “influence you online.”
A Scholastic worksheet sponsored by Google asks kids to practice what to do if they get a pop-up message that says, “You’ve won a free smartphone! Click here to get it!”
Feature image credit: creativeneko – stock.adobe.com
