Former Facebook and Google employees and investors are putting pressure on the tech giants to make their products less addictive, particularly for kids.

“They’ve created the attention economy and are now engaged in a full-blown arms race to capture and retain human attention, including the attention of kids. Technologists, engineers, and designers have the power and responsibility to hold themselves accountable and build products that create a better world.” — Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist who will serve as a senior fellow at Common Sense.

Former Facebook and Google employees and investors who helped build the services used by billions are putting pressure on the technology giants to make their products less addictive, particularly for kids. There have been several studies of late which have gone on to prove the consequences which the children have these days due to an ‘addiction’ which they develop due to over use of these latest gadgets

Tristan Harris, a former Google employee commented on this issue and said, “They’ve created the attention economy and are now engaged in a full-blown arms race to capture and retain human attention, including the attention of kids.

Technologists, engineers, and designers have the power and responsibility to hold themselves accountable and build products that create a better world,” Tristan Harris, the former Google design ethicist who will serve as a senior fellow at Common Sense, said in a statement.

Advocates last week urged Facebook to scrap a messaging service for kids. YouTube for Kids has also come under fire for featuring disturbing content.

Tech companies are conducting a massive, real-time experiment on our kids, and, at present, no one is really holding them accountable. Their business models often encourage them to do whatever they can to grab attention and data and then to worry about the consequences later, even though those very same consequences may at times hurt the social, emotional, and cognitive development of kids.

In November, Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, took aim at Facebook in an interview with Axios, saying he and othe r executives created a “social-validation feedback loop” to make Facebook psychologically addictive.

Teens average nine hours of media a day, and tweens average six. Half of teens say they feel addicted to their mobile devices, and the majority of parents, 60%, say their kids are addicted.