Meta and Google fund kids brands to teach moderation as their apps make unplugging harder

Sesame Street and Girl Scouts teach “moderation”

Meta and Google have partnered with familiar children’s brands like Sesame Street, Girl Scouts, and Highlights to promote “responsible” technology use for kids under 12. Critics say the move functions as reputation management: the same platforms are built to be hard to disengage from, and lawsuits allege addictive design that harms youth mental health. Reuters reviewed internal and court-released materials, including early proposals to recruit third parties to rebut addiction claims.