The Meta settlement

I am definitely not a fan of Meta. I have issues with their history regarding privacy and security. Businesses have moved some content that used to reside on their website to Facebook. Facebook has certain viewing restrictions for people who don't join, so Facebook has actually reduced the accessibility of certain information for people who don't like their service. On top of all of that, Meta has had commercials where they have openly pushed the government to regulate their entire industry based on the desires of Meta.

Meta just settled a lawsuit regarding harm they are causing children. The settlement includes billions of dollars, new policies meant to protect children, and a push for other social networks to do the same.

Settling lawsuits is not always about guilt. Meta might have wanted to stop spending money on legal fees. More likely, they might have wanted to end the public relations disaster caused by the media's obvious one-sided portrayal of the issue. There could even be less common reasons for the settlement. An argument could certainly be made that a company with a history of trying to control how their industry is regulated liked a settlement that pushes other businesses in their industry to adhere to standards that they negotiated.

The evidence against social networking is still underwhelming. When I was in school, I would balance one hexagonal pencil on top of another. This was due to my struggles with the level of mental inactivity demanded by my teachers. Balancing pencils might not be the most mentally stimulating activity around, but it was at least something. This could very well be the same reason that kids are using social networks excessively.

I should probably make it clear that I don't think it's healthy for kids to spend their childhoods on social networks, but I honestly don't think that's what we are seeing. Excessive social network usage appears to be more of a symptom than a cause of this mental health crisis. This reminds me of all the outrage aimed at video games when I was younger. It seems like we are trying to find someone to blame for society's problems instead of establishing a proper understanding of what's really happening.

If we truly care about the mental health of American youth, there are much better targets than Meta. Take a look at the NEA and AFT. These are organizations that actively advocate for locking children away in mental prisons that deprived them of rights and freedoms without due process. The prisons employ members of these organizations who systematically assault mental health as a means of controlling what they think. Some members of these organizations even openly boast that they are using their positions to mold the minds of children. The evidence that these organizations are causing substantial mental harm far exceeds evidence against social networking.

Unfortunately, the NEA and AFT are big and powerful organizations that politicians value for buying elections. Very few are willing to anger them. Even if they know they won't get an endorsement, they don't want the NEA and AFT to increase spending against them.

The settlement against Facebook isn't going to do any good. The mental health crisis will continue. More than likely, the same people praising the settlement today will simply say that it's still Meta's fault. This is just scapegoating. They don't really care. If they did, they would already be engaged in legal action against the NEA and AFT.