1. No Screen Time for Babies
The World Health Organization has issued its first-ever set of guidelines for how much screen time children under the age of five should get: not very much and none at all for those under one. The UN health agency said kids under five should not spend more than one hour watching screens — and that less is better. The guidelines are similar to the advice given by the American Academy of Pediatrics. That group recommends children younger than 18 months should avoid screens other than video chats. What about screen time benefits? Some groups said WHO’s screen time guidelines fail to consider the potential benefits of digital media. Britain’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the data available was too weak to allow its experts to set any thresholds for the appropriate level of screen time. “Our research has shown that currently there is not strong enough evidence to support the setting of screen time limits,” said Dr. Max Davie, the college’s Officer for Health Improvement. That may be true, but guidelines could also prevent the iPhone apocalypse and keep teenagers from becoming screenagers.
(Source: AP News)
2. Facebook Sets Aside $5B for FTC Fine
Yesterday during its earnings call, Facebook said it’s setting aside up to $5B in case of Federal Trade Commission fines for privacy violations. Last year, the FTC started investigating Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal – the one where a political consulting firm got access to tens of millions of users’ data. The FTC has been looking into whether that violated Facebook’s user agreement to obtain permission and share user data. Since then, Facebook and the FTC have been in negotiations. If Facebook has to pay in the billions, it would be the FTC’s largest fine yet against a tech company. And Zuck’s new podcast?
… Oh, and Mark Zuckerberg has a podcast now.
(Source: The Skimm)
3. UK’s Move in “Tech Cold War”
The UK has decided to let the Chinese tech giant Huawei build out part of its 5G network. In case you missed it, the US and China are in a tech Cold War. The US claims China’s access to countries’ telecom infrastructure threatens US national security and has vowed to share less intel with countries that work with Huawei. Now, the UK is saying ‘pish posh, I do what I want’ but that it would only let Huawei update “non-core” parts of its 5G network. The move tests whether the US will follow through on its threats – and perhaps lessen security ties with one of its closest allies.
(Source: The Skimm)
