If You Build It, They Won’t Come

Parents do not use parental controls on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta’s Nick Clegg, with adults failing to embrace the 50 child safety tools the company has introduced in recent years.

So what to do, what to do? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Don't give them the choice, impose it.

Regulatory pressure is building on tech companies to protect children from harmful content, with the Australian government announcing plans this week to ban younger teenagers from accessing social media. Speaking at an event hosted by Chatham House in London, Clegg said parents were not using controls that allowed them to set time limits and schedule viewing breaks. “One of the things we do find … is that even when we build these controls, parents don’t use them,” he said. “So we have a bit of a behavioural issue, which is: we as an engineering company might build these things, and then we say at events like this: ‘Oh, we’ve given parents choices to restrict the amount of time kids are [online]’ – parents don’t use it.”

Perhaps they don't accept that it's the disaster they are being told that it is? Perhaps they are just lazy?  

Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, a charity set up by Russell’s family, said: “Nick Clegg would do a service to children’s safety by stopping passing the buck and starting to take responsibility for the preventable harm caused by Meta’s choices.”

Why is it his responsibilty? They aren't his children. They aren't your children either..