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Who is responsible for the damage caused in digital life?

2023-01-26T09:21:25.089Z


In January 2023, schools in Seattle (USA) sued TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat for compensation for economic damages caused by affecting the mental health of their students. Experiences to keep in mind.


In January 2023, schools in Seattle (USA) sued the technology companies TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat for compensation for economic damages caused by affecting the mental health of their students.

They say they have caused behavioral disorders such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders, which make education difficult and force schools to hire mental health experts, develop special educational plans and provide additional training for teachers.

In our country, days later, two adolescents who participated in Tik Tok in the so-called "blackout challenge" died.

Who is responsible for the damages of these children?

Parents?

The companies that own the platforms?

State control agencies?

Children and adolescents carry out many of their daily activities thanks to social networks and educational, gaming and shopping platforms.

There is no way to remove them from digital life without shutting them out of the world.

But the very tools that help them can pose a danger.

We must bear in mind that the technology business is not to educate, entertain or serve as a link between our children, but to attract their attention and capture their data to profit from them.

Children are an interesting group of users, and platforms don't want to block their entry.

They ignore unwanted consequences, such as the impact on self-esteem and mental health, digital crimes -such as cyberbullying- and injuries or death due to viral challenges, such as the “blackout challenge”.

In the US, there is a specific law that requires parental consent to operate websites and imposes obligations on companies to protect the privacy and security of children under 13 years of age.

But just by faking their age or identity, children can have a digital profile without raising any alarm, and the companies themselves prefer to pay fines for breaking the law rather than abide by its compliance.

The State is satisfied and feels that it has done its part, but the danger to which children are exposed is not avoided.

Entrusting companies exclusively with the task of protecting children does not seem like the best idea, nor is it enough to charge them later compensation for the damage caused, or fines for non-compliance.

Parents find it difficult to control the activity of children 24 hours a day.

A telephone and the privacy of the room are enough for the child to be alone and helpless when challenged to hold his breath for as long as possible.

Until now, in the face of proven infractions or damages, those forced to compensate were the companies. But ex-Facebook employees have declared that the product was designed on purpose to create addiction.

This was confirmed by a formal complaint from 2021, which revealed that Instagram dismissed an internal investigation that showed that the platform was a "toxic" place for many young people and affected their mental health.

It makes us think about the personal responsibility of those who make such decisions.

Applying criminal sanctions to the owners and managers of technology companies whose products tend to create a dependency that causes damage to the health of users would be more effective than the merely economic sanctions applied up to now against companies as such.

Mónica Graiewski is a Family Lawyer.

She has a PhD in Private Law.


Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-01-26

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