FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 15, 2026
Contact: Ashwin Verghese, [email protected], 508-263-0289
Big Tech’s Youngest Targets are Being Overlooked, Fairplay Says
The growing movement to hold tech companies accountable is falling short when it comes to protecting one of Big Tech’s most vulnerable targets: young children ages birth through 5.
That’s according to a new white paper released today by the advocacy group Fairplay. “Big Tech’s Youngest Targets: A Call to Protect Early Childhood from Exploitative Business Practices” exposes the various tactics used by the tech industry to harm young children and calls on advocates, educators, and lawmakers to protect young kids by organizing around a shared agenda for change.
The white paper notes that children under 6 are already using technology at high rates, including YouTube, social gaming, AI toys, and other emerging technologies. The majority of children ages 0-5 exceed screen time recommendations.
Rachel Franz, Fairplay’s Young Children Thrive Offline program director, said: “The blame for ‘too much screen time’ too often falls on the shoulders of families. But, research shows that companies intentionally design technology to hook even the youngest of kids, potentially harming their development, while marketing this manipulative tech as safe and educational. AI amplifies these concerns as it is released at an unprecedented speed and scale and pushed on young children.
“Families cannot reasonably be expected to counteract predatory marketing and products engineered by companies to maximize children’s attention, data, and engagement. Just as social media companies are being held accountable for their harms to teens, tech companies that target babies, toddlers, and preschoolers need to be taken to task. We’re calling on people and organizations from all sectors to come together to protect young children from the exploitative business model of Big Tech.”
The white paper explains:
- Why advocates must focus on young children.
- How companies exploit children from birth.
- Why a shared agenda is crucial for protecting young kids from Big Tech.
- What everyone from policymakers and public health professionals to parents and advocates can do to build early childhood accountability.
Call to Action
The paper acknowledges that protecting young children will require a coordinated movement across many sectors. It provides recommendations for what each group can do to build early childhood tech accountability:
- Advocacy organizations should start by making tech companies’ business model part of the conversation, building coalitions and spaces for collective action, and promoting an early childhood lens for tech accountability, manipulative design, and AI regulation efforts.
- Educators should be wary of technology’s “educational” claims and use the framing discussed in the “shared strategies” section of the paper to shift the narrative on early childhood screen time.
- Families and caregivers should share their experiences and concerns with other groups, speak up for stronger protections for kids online, and ask schools and child care providers to prioritize screen-free play and learning.
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About Fairplay
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s well-being by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech. Learn more at www.fairplayforkids.org.