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Meta—the company behind Instagram and Facebook—is under fire for the harm its platforms cause kids. But instead of fixing the problem, Meta has launched a sophisticated campaign to protect its image and slow down regulation.
In this episode of The Purple Zone, Alexis unpacks:
- How Meta funds parent and child safety groups—including the National PTA—to build trust with families.
- Why National PTA has recently come under fire in outside reporting, and what’s fact vs. assumption. I share my own perspective as a past state PTA president—what’s true, what’s been asked, and what’s at stake.
- The rollout of Meta’s Instagram School Partnership Program, which offers schools “better customer service” only if they partner with the company.
- The role of the Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit watchdog exposing how companies like Meta shape public perception, policy, and research.
- Check out the "Inside Meta's Spine Machine on Kids & Social Media" https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/inside-metas-spin-machine-on-kids-and-social-media
- My personal experience at the Idaho Capitol in 2024, where Big Tech lobbyists helped defeat a bill designed to protect kids online.
- How Idaho school districts are adopting bell-to-bell no cell phone policies, and what that reveals about local efforts to protect student well-being.
👉 The big questions:
- Does taking Big Tech money amount to endorsement?
- Should schools partner with Instagram to fix harms Instagram itself created?
- Who should decide what’s best for kids: corporations or parents/communities/lawmakers?
Because in the end, this is bigger than social media. It’s about transparency, accountability, and whether we let Big Tech write the rules for our children’s future.
**I mention some accounts to follow. One is Protect Young Eyes, by Chris McKenna (I say his last name is Young, I spoke incorrectly).
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