with Aaron Schaffer
Meet Share Bear, the toy that knows everything about you ... and then sells it to billion-dollar tech companies.
This cuddly yet creepy companion is part of a new campaign launching later this week called “Twisted Toys,” which aims to raise awareness about the ways tech companies prey on children’s data. The upbeat commercials at first appear as if they would run during Saturday morning cartoons, but quickly take a dark turn. They distort familiar childhood toys with risky and addictive features common across the Internet.
Share Bear, which has a camera for an eye, aims to highlight the exploitation of data. Another ad for a “Stalkie Talkie” touts a bright, plastic walkie talkie, and warns of the risks of children connecting with adult strangers online. There’s even a spot for a night light that wants your attention around-the-clock.
The toys in the upcoming ads aren’t real, but they highlight actual concerns about how tech products affect children.
The campaign is backed by 5Rights, a foundation advocating for children's digital rights helmed by Beeban Kidron, a member of the British House of Lords. She has backed regulation to protect kids online in the United Kingdom, and now she's working with U.S. organizations to bring that fight across the Atlantic with this new campaign.
“Twisted toys reimagines the norms of the digital world in traditional toys, and says, ‘Is that okay?’ ” Kidron told me in an interview. “And I sort of challenge anyone to say any of these toys are okay.”
5Rights is working with Common Sense Media, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, Center for Digital Democracy and Parents Together on the campaign, which will officially launch on Wednesday.
The ads aim to show how absurd it would be to pick up a game or stuffed animal in the toy aisle if it came with the known risks of services such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or some video games. The ads don't focus on any individual tech companies, but rather the broader industry-wide problems of tracking, child exploitation, online harassment and excessive screen time.
Kidron was able to gain cross-party support in Britain to pass an amendment that became the Age Appropriate Design Code, which aims to give children under the age of 18 better protections online. Now she says it's time for U.S. lawmakers to take similar steps, especially because regulations in the United States could have far-reaching consequences for how American tech giants operate throughout the world.
“If America is back, you need to do this,” she said.
The campaign comes amid a broader effort in the United States to protect children online.
Members of both political parties increasingly have called for stronger regulation to protect children online, especially as children spent more time in front of screens as the pandemic forced school and socialization online.
Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) praised the Twisted Toys campaign in a statement. As a mother herself, she said she's all too familiar with the concerns the ads highlight, and it's time for companies to design products with children's needs in mind.
Trahan said the Age Appropriate Design Code, which took effect last year, is having a big impact, and it's time for the United States to follow suit.
“It’s time for the United States and the rest of the world to catch up,” she said in a statement.
