children

The FTC proposed sweeping privacy changes on Wednesday that could curb how social media, game and learning apps use and monetize youngsters’ data.

The company faces accusations that it hid research showing the mental and emotional harm Instagram, its photo-sharing app, has had on teenagers.

A federal judge has officially dismissed a class-action complaint accusing YouTube and other companies of violating children’s privacy, paving the way for an appellate court to intervene in the matter. The legal battle began in 2019, when California resident Nicole Hubbard sued YouTube and various companies that had channels on the video platform — including Hasbro, the Cartoon Network, Mattel, and DreamWorks — for allegedly tracking her 5-year-old child in order to serve targeted ads.

A federal judge has dismissed claims that YouTube, Hasbro, the Cartoon Network and other companies violated children’s privacy by allegedly tracking them in order to serve them with targeted ads. In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, Calif., said the children’s representatives couldn’t proceed with the case because the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act doesn’t allow for private lawsuits.

The Television Academy and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Monday that they have agreed to move all children’s categories from the Primetime Emmy Awards (overseen by the TV Academy) to the Daytime Emmy Awards (overseen by NATAS).

“Children will be protected from advertising based on any past online activities or any previously collected data in the subject app or anywhere else on the internet,” lawyers for parents of young children tell a federal judge.

Two Senate Democrats proposed a bill Thursday that would regulate the way online sites display and promote content and ads aimed at children under the age of 16. The Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, introduced by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (l) and Ed Markey, would prohibit operators of platforms aimed at users under 16 from using “auto-play” settings on videos. The measure would also ban those operators encouraging young users by offering them “badges” for playing games, or sending them push alerts.

Faced with new competition like Disney Plus, the streaming service has quietly prepared a barrage of shows and movies for children and families.